Monday, June 29, 2009



You can label almost anybody
by finding out what time
they go to work in the morning.

Robert Bloch
The Scarf
1947

Monday, June 22, 2009



New York and Hollywood
is full of her, she is
everywhere you turn,
and when you have reached
the ripe age of thirty-six,
you have learned it is
useless to try to warn
her of the pitfalls.
Because nothing can daunt her--
nothing except time,
years of batting her pretty head
against too many disappointments,
and her firm white fanny
against too many mattresses.

Steve Fisher
No House Limit
1958

Monday, June 15, 2009



I had seen
so many houses burned down,
so many cars wrecked,
so man corpses
with blue holes in their temples,
so many awful things
that people had pulled
to crook the wheel,
that that stuff didn't seem real
to me any more.
If you don't understand that,
go to Monte Carlo
or some other place
where there's a big casino,
sit at a table,
and watch the face of the man
that spins the little ivory ball.
After you've watched it a while,
ask yourself how much
he would care
if you went out and
plugged yourself in the head.
His eyes might drop
when he heard the shot,
but it wouldn't be from worry
whether you lived or died.
It would be to make sure
you didn't leave
a bet on the table,
that he would have to cash
for your estate.

James M. Cain
Double Indemnity
1936

Monday, June 8, 2009



It don't take
much brains
to outsmart
a man who
trusts you.

Jim Thompson
Nothing More Than Murder
1949

Monday, June 1, 2009



What can a man do
when a girl
grabs him like that?
A man has to be
polite.

W. R. Burnett
High Sierra
1940