(The Twisted Thing (1966) was Mickey Spillane’s first Mike...)
The Twisted Thing (1966) was Mickey Spillane’s first Mike Hammer novel in two years as he had been busy with his Tiger Mann series in the interim. In this book, which apparently was written much earlier, Hammer is mostly disconnected from the incidents that had occurred in the two previous published installments (The Girl Hunters and The Snake) following the character’s reintroduction in 1962 after a decade-long hiatus.
(An excellent book by master story teller Mickey Spillane....)
An excellent book by master story teller Mickey Spillane. The Delta Factor Introduces the ever cool Morgan the Raider. A top criminal operator hired by the U.S. Goverment to break out a scientist from a maximum security prison in a country ruled by a ruthless dictator. At stake is $40million in stolen loot. Will Morgan rescue the scientist and get the money? Find out.
(Reissued to coincide with the release of Spillane's twelf...)
Reissued to coincide with the release of Spillane's twelfth Mike Hammer novel, "The Killing Man", the first for 20 years. Mike Hammer finds himself involved with a very nasty underground network conspiring to destroy the USA.
(Larry and Josh rescue an ancient sailor adrift in a myste...)
Larry and Josh rescue an ancient sailor adrift in a mysterious longboat and soon find themselves involved in finding a lost island and restoring a missing heir to the throne of a kingdom.
(Published in 1984, this volume collects 10 shorter works ...)
Published in 1984, this volume collects 10 shorter works by the Mickster, introduced by Max Allan Collins. Do you need it? Definitely, if you are a Spillane fan and appreciator. Here's what you get: "Tomorrow I Die" is an exploration of the "unfolding identity" theme to be found in almost all Spillane's fiction.
(Black Alley (1996) is Mickey Spillane's 13th novel featur...)
Black Alley (1996) is Mickey Spillane's 13th novel featuring tougher-than-thou New York City private investigator Mike Hammer, and the last one he completed before his death in July 2006.
Mickey Spillane was an American crime novelist whose real name was Frank Morrison Spillane. He was mainly known and popular for his crime detective novels, especially featuring those with his character Mike Hammer. He has sold over 225 million copies of work.
Background
He was born in Brooklyn, New York City and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. His father worked as a bar tender, John Joseph Spillane (Irish) and his mother was Catherine Anne (Scottish). He was the only child of his parents. He graduated in 1935 from Erasmus Hall High School. He started writing while he was in high school. He then shortly attended Fort Hayes State College in Kansas and worked in many different jobs for example as a life guard at breezy point in summer and for some period as trampoline artist for the Ringling Bros.
Mickey during World War II enlisted in the army air corps as a fighter pilot and a flight instructor. He used his celebrity status for publishing The Grand Strand on TV but when it become a popular resort area and traffic become a problem He said, “I shouldn’t have told people about it”. He was an active Jehovah’s Witness. Mickey and Marry Ann Spillane, first wife had four children and their marriage ended in 1962. Later he married his second wife a nightclub singer Sherri Malinou in November 1965. His third marriage was with Jane Rogers Johnson.
Spillane became a friend of Ayn Rand (A Novelist) In 1960 Spillane became “fan” of Rand (as he described) and Rand also admired the literary skills of Spillane. His house was ravaged in the 1989 Hurricane Hugo and it had to completely rebuild from scratch.
He is also known as the King of Pulp Novelists. His inspiration to write on tough characters came from his experience in his childhood or the place where he grew up and lived most of his early years. He described it to be very tough neighborhood.
Education
Mickey studied and graduated in Erasmus hall high school in 1935 and attended Fort Hays State College in Kansas. He was a natural storyteller even during his school days. Before enrolling at the Fort Hays State College in Kansas he had taken up a wide range of odd jobs. His interest of playing football and swimming came during his school days. He never graduated in his life. His education stopped with the schooling itself.
Career
His interest for writing starting at a very young age, however, it was during his school days he started storytelling. His career can be split into various sections such as his career in comic books, Novels, Crime thrillers, Short stories, etc. His passion for writing such thrilling stories made him a popular figure in the field of writing.
When he was working as a salesman in Gimbels in 1940, he started his career as comic book writer. He met a fellow salesman Joe Gill who advised him to meet his brother Ray Gill who also wrote for Funnies Inc., an outfit that packaged comic books for different publishers. After some time Spillane began writing story of the eight-page story every day. He concocted adventures for major 1940s comic book characters, including Captain Marvel, Superman, Batman and Captain America. Two-page text stories, which he wrote in the mid-1940s for timely, appeared under his name and were collected in Primal Spillane (Gryphon Books, 2003).
On December 7, 1941, there was an attack on Peal Harbor. The next day Spillane joined the United States Army Air Forces. He was stationed as a flight instructor in Greenwood Mississippi in mid-1940s, where he met and married Mary Ann Pearce in 1945. The couple wanted to buy a country house in the town of Newburgh New York, 60 Miles north of New York City so Spillane decided to boost his bank account by writing a novel. Then he wrote I, the Jury in 19 days and then sent it to E. P. Dutton as the advice of Ray Gill.
In December 1948 I, the Jury sold 6 ½million copies in the United States. In I, the Jury Mike Hammer was introduced which is the most famous character of Spillane’s creation.
Prior to his writing career, he had worked as a circus performer in the 1950’s.
The most popular of his books, of course, feature Spillane's hard-boiled gumshoe/avenger Mike Hammer, the New York eye whose every case turned into a personal vendetta that -- following a suitable number of trysts with beautiful and generally willing babes and raw scenes of brutality -- inevitably ended with Hammer serving up his own kind of justice, usually out of the smoking barrel of a .45. The critics may have sneered at Spillane's sex-and-violence-filled romps(and admittedly, sometimes it was difficult to tell where the sex ended and the violence began), and he may have been denounced in churches and at US Senate hearings, but the public ate up his books. Spillane became, easily, the best selling private eye writer of his time and Hammer became a multi-media juggernaut, appearing on radio and in films, a daily newspaper comic strip and not one but two popular television series, as well as, of course, thirteen best-selling novels, stretching from, the Jury in 1947 and wrapping up with Black Alley in 1996. Spillane became something of a media star himself, playing the part of Hammer in the 1963 film version of The Girl Hunters and appearing as a spokesman for Miller Lite beer TV ad for almost two decades. Spillane wrote about other memorable tough-guy characters, including super-spy Tiger Mann in a spate of novels written in the mid-1960s, Dogeron Kelly in The Erection Set(1972) and Mako Hooker, a semi-retired spy in Spillane's last novel, Something's Down There, published in 2003, when the author was 85.
(Typical hard boiled Mickey Spillane. Plenty of twists and...)
1973
Religion
He was an active Jehovah’s Witness believer. Though he was writing fiction stories throughout his career he also had high faith in God through Jehovah’s Witness. He was very clear about his belief which clearly shows even fiction writers who talks about various fictional characters and portrays them in different ways through their writing are also believers of God.
Politics
Mickey Spillane’s political views were not discussed much during his life time. However he had a touch of politics in a wide range of stories he wrote. He enjoyed writing stories that had a touch of politics believing it will reach up to the reader’s minds easily.
Views
Although his stories were well received and at the peak of his writing career he topped the list of best sellers in the United States, he was equally penned down by critics. He was never bothered about the critics at any moment in his life. He continued what he was doing best without worrying about what they would write about him. Here is one of his popular quote, "I don't give a hoot about reading reviews. What I want to read is the royalty checks."
Personality
Mickey Spillane’s life wasn’t easy from the beginning as he had his time of hardships from early childhood. From living in a tough life neighborhood to working on off jobs before completing his schooling to serving the Army at a very young age. He did everything possible one can do in life. However it was his writing fictional stories that got him all the accolades he wanted in his life. We know about his story and his main protagonist, Mike Hammer, who is an avenger who takes all his cases into personal vendetta. However Mickey wasn’t much like Mike, he was a good and well carried person who was always respected for what he was to others.
He never was depressed when his stories were penned down multiple times by critics. In fact, he continued writing and creating even better work of fiction every time it happened to him.
Physical Characteristics:
Mickey Spillane was a real cool looking man with his Hollywood looks from his early life. His days of acting clearly shows his charm as an actor. He was a well mannered person with creative thoughts.
Interests
Swimming, Arts
Connections
Spillane was the only child of his Irish bartender father, John Joseph Spillaneand his Scottish mother, Catherine. He married Mary Ann and had four children Caroline, Kathy, Michael and Ward. After their divorce in 1962 he married Sherri Malinouin in November 1965 she was a nightclub singer. They divorced in 1983 and later he married Jane Rogers Johnson and she had two Daughters Jennifer Johnson and Margaret Johnson.