Maigret and the Pickpocket

New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Company: Harvest Books. Fine. 1985. First Edition Thus; Second Printing. Paperback. Fine in Wraps: flawless; the binding is secure; the text is clean. Free of creases to the panels. Free of creases to the backstrip. Free of any underlining, hi-lighting or marginalia or marks in the text. Free of any ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, plates, or labels. A handsome, like-new copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing no discernible imperfections. Bright and clean. Corners sharp. Virtually "As New". NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 12mo. (7 x 4.25 x 0.45 inches) . Translated by Nigel Ryan. Language: English. Weight: 4.2 ounces. Mass Market Paperback. Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (1903 – 1989) was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known as the creator of the fictional detective Commissaire Jules Maigret, who appears in 75 novels and 28 short stories. The first novel in the series, Pietr-le-Letton, was serialized in 1930 and appeared in book form in 1931; the last one, Maigret and Monsieur Charles, was published in 1972. The Maigret novels were translated into all major languages and several of them were turned into films and radio plays. Three films were made in the late 1950s and early 1960s, starring Jean Gabin: Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case; Maigret Sets A Trap; and Margret Sees Red. Maigret's Pickpocket was published as Le Voleur de Maigret in 1967. It was translated by Nigel Ryan. A thief steals Maigret's wallet on a bus, then returns it in an apparent fit of remorse. Interviewed, he discloses the horrific death of his wife, who has been shot. Maigret begins an investigation into the murder, which has happened on the fringes of the film world. His confidant, his pickpocket, is a tortured genius whose poverty has deformed him. The circle of his acquaintances whom Maigret meets confuse the real with the apparent. To understand the crime he has to understand the people concerned. Simenon, who knew quite a bit about the film world (he was a regular at Cannes, where he sometimes judged, and an intimate of Federico Fellini) describes the financial poseurs who act as producers, the actresses who will do anything for a part, the writers and directors hungering to be proclaimed as geniuses, the hangers on who put their careers on hold for easy film money. For anyone with an interest in cinema this is a fascinating depiction. ; 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 151 pages .