num_pages: 183
description: Stated First Edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1972. 'The relentless realism and unglamorous nature of the characters in The Friends of Eddie Coyle was in sharp contrast to some other gangster novels of the era, particularly Mario Puzo's The Godfather, a more romanticized look at organized crime that later would be adapted into the popular 1972 film of the same name. The novel was an instant success, with Higgins receiving praise from Norman Mailer as "the American writer who is closest to Henry Green. What I can't get over is that so good a first novel was written by the fuzz." Ross MacDonald wrote that it was the "most powerful and frightening crime novel that I have read this year. It will be remembered long after the year is over, as marking the debut of a fine original talent." Elmore Leonard said that The Friends of Eddie Coyle was the best crime novel ever written, though Higgins hated being classified as a "crime writer". According to Leonard, "He saw himself as the Charles Dickens of crime in Boston instead of a crime writer. He just understood the human condition and he understood it most vividly in the language and actions among low lives."] The novel is featured in the series finale episode of Justified, "The Promise", during a scene where Raylan Givens clears out his desk while leaving the U.S. Marshals office.
language: English
title: The Friends of Eddie Coyle
titlecomplete: The Friends of Eddie Coyle
characters: Eddie Coyle
genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Noir, Mystery Thriller, Classics, Novels, Hard Boiled, 20th Century, Crime
ratings_count: 9006
places: Boston, Massachusetts
awards: awardedAt: 63100800000
name: CWA Silver Dagger, awardedAt: 94723200000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Fiction
publisher: Secker & Warburg (1972).