{"product_id":"the-prone-gunman-9780872864023","title":"The Prone Gunman","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Jean-Patrick Manchette\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: City Lights Books\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: City Lights Books\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Mystery \u0026amp; Detective - Hard-Boiled\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"His books are all action, unfolding with a laconic efficiency that would make his killers proud.\"--\u003cem\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMartin Terrier is a hired killer who wants out of the game--so he can settle down and marry his childhood sweetheart. After all, that's why he took up this profession! But \"the company\" won't let him go: they have other plans. Once again, the gunman must assume the prone firing position. A tour de force, this violent tale shatters as many illusions about life and politics as it does bodies. Jean-Patrick Manchette subjects his characters and the reader alike to a fierce exercise in style.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis tightly plotted, corrosive parody of \"the success story\" is widely considered to be Manchette's masterpiece, and was named a \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e \"Notable Book.\" \u003cem\u003eThe Prone Gunman\u003c\/em\u003e is a classic of modern noir.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"For Manchette and the generation of writers who followed him, the crime novel is no mere entertainment, but a means to strip bare the failures of society, ripping through veils of appearance, deceit, and manipulation to the greed and violence that are the society's true engines.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"There's not a superfluous word or overdone effect . . . one of the last cool, compact and shockingly original crime novels Manchette left as his legacy to modern noir fiction.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"For the first time readers can experience in English translation the masterful thriller considered Manchette's finest, proof positive that the French knew what they were talking about when they labeled this sort of novel 'noir'.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This superbly muscular translation of the late French mystery writer Jean-Patrick Manchette's most celebrated work, \u003cem\u003eThe Prone Gunman\u003c\/em\u003e, is the third volume issued [by] City Lights Noir. The series may prove to be the most needed contribution to contemporary fiction by any publisher in a good long while.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eThe San Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJean-Patrick Manchette\u003c\/strong\u003e was a French crime novelist credited with reinventing and reinvigorating the genre. He wrote ten short novels in the 1970s and early 80s, and is widely recognized as the foremost French crime fiction author of that time. His stories are violent, existentialist explorations of the human condition and French society. Jazz saxophonist and screenwriter, Manchette was also a left-wing activist influenced as much by the writings of the Situationist International as by Dashiell Hammett. Jean-Patrick Manchette's \u003cem\u003eThree to Kill\u003c\/em\u003e as well as the movie tie-in \u003cem\u003eThe Gunman\u003c\/em\u003e are also published by City Lights Publishers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"City Lights Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":45087571902615,"sku":"9780872864023","price":1083.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9780872864023.webp?v=1767266798","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/the-prone-gunman-9780872864023","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}