Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Dunne, John Gregory. True confessions, New York : Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006.

This gritty crime novel, set in the 1940s  is remembered as Dunne's finest achievement.  A prolific writer, journalist and screenwriter, he was the brother of Dominic Dunne novelist and social commentator (Vanity Fair columnist); and had an enduring marriage with Joan Didion whose novel Play It As It Lays also features in this blog.

First published in 1977, Dunne is able to indulge in a prose style which is expletive-laden.  In fact the book reads like a Tarrantino script - before Tarrantino had started making movies!  The core of the plot revolves around the famous still unsolved "Blue Dahlia" case and police corruption.  And two brothers, one a cop the other a priest.

True confessions  was adapted by Dunne for the movies.  With Robert de Niro and Robert Duvall in the leads, the film was a great success.

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