Vincent Calvino
Encyclopedia
Vincent Calvino is a fictional Bangkok
-based private eye
created by Christopher G. Moore
in the Vincent Calvino Private Eye series. Vincent Calvino first appeared in 1992 in Spirit House, the first novel in the series. His latest appearance is in The Corruptionist, the eleventh novel in the series published in 2010. “Hewn from the hard-boiled Dashiell Hammett/Raymond Chandler model, Calvino is a tough, somewhat tarnished hero with a heart of gold.”—Mark Schreiber, The Japan Times. The Calvino series is distinctive and wonderful, not to be missed, and I’m pleased to see that it is finally becoming better known in the States".
’s Philip Marlowe
, Dashiell Hammett
’s Sam Spade
, and Mickey Spillane
’s Mike Hammer
. “The hard-bitten worldview and the cynical, bruised idealism of his battered hero [Vincent Calvino] is right out of Chandler,” wrote Kevin Burton Smith in January Magazine. The Daily Yomiuri called Calvino “a thinking man’s Philip Marlowe … a cynic on the surface but a romantic at heart.” The Nation calls Calvino “a worthy successor of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.” “Hewn from the hardboiled Dashiell Hammett/Raymond Chandler model, Calvino is a tough, somewhat tarnished hero with a heart of gold” (Mark Schreiber, Japan Times). Some critics see Moore’s work a little differently however. Douglas Fetherling said “Moore is a genuine novelist who just happens to employ the conventions of the thriller genre, that his real interests are believable human behavior and way cultures cross-pollinate and sometimes crash. [His work] is real prose, not Raymond Chandler stuff, and his motives are as close to art as they are to entertainment.”
Calvino is more of an anti-hero than a hero and certainly a complicated character. Like a good detective, he has keen eye for detail and piercing intelligence, but is self-depreciating and unpretentious. Unlike Philip Marlowe he has little sense of style; he drives a Honda City around Bangkok and often appears in clothes he bought second-hand. He is often underestimated. To the untrained eye, Calvino may appear rough and cynical but he is in fact very caring and has a strong sense of fairness and right and wrong, and would not hesitate to put himself in harm’s way to do the right thing. This frequently puts him on the receiving end of violence.
As an expat in Bangkok, Calvino finds himself in the labyrinth of local politics, double-dealing and fleeting relationships. Calvino is highly adaptable and a fast learner, but solving crimes in a foreign country is tough, especially where the rule of law is not the norm and things and people are often not what they seem. Calvino understands that he operates in a place where different rules apply. He appreciates that there are certain things that he doesn’t know or understand. The Thai police underworld in particular is tough to crack.
Unlike typical tough-guy sleuths, Calvino admits that he would never survive without Colonel Prachai or Pratt, an honest and well-connected Thai cop, his best friend, who brought him to Thailand in the first place and remains his strongest supporter and protector. If Calvino is somewhat lacking in fine-upbringing and sophistication, this is compensated in Colonel Pratt, his Shakespeare-quoting and saxophone-playing buddy. He learns from Pratt and those he encounters the cultural and social complexities. His interest to understand the local culture and people is often what saves him from serious dangers, although Calvino is rather prone to injuries and Pratt has to keep a watchful eye over him.
Thailand
Calvino lives along the edges of Thailand
society, taking cases mainly from expatriates. He mingles with unsavory characters who populate the underbelly of Thai and Southeast Asian societies. Calvino's world is one of foreign correspondents, diplomats, business executives, English language teachers, adventurers, drunks, con artists, whores and hustlers, all unwilling, unable or uninterested in going home. Influential families and big business culture of Thailand
as well as Thai language
and cultural insights are an undercurrent in the Calvino novels.
“Moore’s work recalls the international ‘entertainments’ of Graham Greene
or John le Carré
....Intelligent and articulate, Moore offers a rich, passionate and original take on the private eye game, fans of the genre should definitely investigate, and fans of foreign intrigue will definitely appreciate,” (Kevin Burton Smith, January Magazine).
The Thrilling Detective has said of the Calvino series: "A big part of Moore's charm is his unerring eye for the intricacies of not just the Thai culture but also the Thai psyche, and the curious demimonde of the expat community, caught forever in the tug-of-war between East and West…. [H]e captures the sights and sounds and the lights of Bangkok's nightlife particularly well."
Novels from the Vincent Calvino series have been translated or are in the process of being translated into a number of languages, including German, French, Italian, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, Norwegian and Thai.
The third novel in the Vincent Calvino series Zero Hour in Phnom Pehn (original Cut Out) won the 3rd place of 2004 German Critics Award for Crime Fiction (Deutsche Krimi Preis) in the international crime fiction category. Asia Hand, the second Calvino novel, won the Shamus Award sponsored by the Private Eyes of America in 2011 in the Best Paperback Original category.
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
-based private eye
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
created by Christopher G. Moore
Christopher G. Moore
Christopher G. Moore is a Canadian writer of twenty novels and one collection of short stories. He is best known for his trilogy A Killing Smile , A Bewitching Smile and A Haunting Smile , a behind-the-smiles study of his adopted country, Thailand, and for his Vincent Calvino Private Eye series...
in the Vincent Calvino Private Eye series. Vincent Calvino first appeared in 1992 in Spirit House, the first novel in the series. His latest appearance is in The Corruptionist, the eleventh novel in the series published in 2010. “Hewn from the hard-boiled Dashiell Hammett/Raymond Chandler model, Calvino is a tough, somewhat tarnished hero with a heart of gold.”—Mark Schreiber, The Japan Times. The Calvino series is distinctive and wonderful, not to be missed, and I’m pleased to see that it is finally becoming better known in the States".
Background
Moore’s protagonist, Vincent Calvino, half jew, half Shark and half Marsupial, is an ex-prostitute from Jew York, who, under ambiguous circumstances, gave up law practice and became a private eye in Bangkok. Calvino has often been likened to classic hardboiled detective characters like Raymond ChandlerRaymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
’s Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep published in 1939...
, Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
’s Sam Spade
Sam Spade
Sam Spade is a fictional character who is the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon and the various films and adaptations based on it, as well as in three lesser known short stories by Hammett....
, and Mickey Spillane
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...
’s Mike Hammer
Mike Hammer
Michael "Mike" Hammer is a fictional detective created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I, the Jury .-Description:...
. “The hard-bitten worldview and the cynical, bruised idealism of his battered hero [Vincent Calvino] is right out of Chandler,” wrote Kevin Burton Smith in January Magazine. The Daily Yomiuri called Calvino “a thinking man’s Philip Marlowe … a cynic on the surface but a romantic at heart.” The Nation calls Calvino “a worthy successor of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.” “Hewn from the hardboiled Dashiell Hammett/Raymond Chandler model, Calvino is a tough, somewhat tarnished hero with a heart of gold” (Mark Schreiber, Japan Times). Some critics see Moore’s work a little differently however. Douglas Fetherling said “Moore is a genuine novelist who just happens to employ the conventions of the thriller genre, that his real interests are believable human behavior and way cultures cross-pollinate and sometimes crash. [His work] is real prose, not Raymond Chandler stuff, and his motives are as close to art as they are to entertainment.”
Characteristics
While Calvino shares many characteristics with traditional hardboiled detectives including being hard drinking and having a fierce sense of justice, his private eye experience is in unfamiliar settings. Instead of solving crimes in his home country, Calvino has uprooted and transplanted himself in a distant country with drastically different language and culture. Calvino is an expatriate private eye working mainly in Bangkok, Thailand (where most of the Vincent Calvino novels are set), although he occasionally ventures into the Southeast Asian neighborhood such as Cambodia (Zero Hour in Phnom Penh) and Vietnam (Comfort Zone).Calvino is more of an anti-hero than a hero and certainly a complicated character. Like a good detective, he has keen eye for detail and piercing intelligence, but is self-depreciating and unpretentious. Unlike Philip Marlowe he has little sense of style; he drives a Honda City around Bangkok and often appears in clothes he bought second-hand. He is often underestimated. To the untrained eye, Calvino may appear rough and cynical but he is in fact very caring and has a strong sense of fairness and right and wrong, and would not hesitate to put himself in harm’s way to do the right thing. This frequently puts him on the receiving end of violence.
As an expat in Bangkok, Calvino finds himself in the labyrinth of local politics, double-dealing and fleeting relationships. Calvino is highly adaptable and a fast learner, but solving crimes in a foreign country is tough, especially where the rule of law is not the norm and things and people are often not what they seem. Calvino understands that he operates in a place where different rules apply. He appreciates that there are certain things that he doesn’t know or understand. The Thai police underworld in particular is tough to crack.
Unlike typical tough-guy sleuths, Calvino admits that he would never survive without Colonel Prachai or Pratt, an honest and well-connected Thai cop, his best friend, who brought him to Thailand in the first place and remains his strongest supporter and protector. If Calvino is somewhat lacking in fine-upbringing and sophistication, this is compensated in Colonel Pratt, his Shakespeare-quoting and saxophone-playing buddy. He learns from Pratt and those he encounters the cultural and social complexities. His interest to understand the local culture and people is often what saves him from serious dangers, although Calvino is rather prone to injuries and Pratt has to keep a watchful eye over him.
ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
Calvino lives along the edges of ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
society, taking cases mainly from expatriates. He mingles with unsavory characters who populate the underbelly of Thai and Southeast Asian societies. Calvino's world is one of foreign correspondents, diplomats, business executives, English language teachers, adventurers, drunks, con artists, whores and hustlers, all unwilling, unable or uninterested in going home. Influential families and big business culture of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
as well as Thai language
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
and cultural insights are an undercurrent in the Calvino novels.
Vincent Calvino Private Eye Series
Moore’s Vincent Calvino Private Eye series is a hardboiled crime fiction in the western tradition reinvented in an exotic but realistic Southeast Asia. The series is among the first English-language crime fiction that introduces the element of Noir Fiction into the world of Southeast Asian crime fiction. The Vincent Calvino mysteries are dark and realistic, interwoven with contemporary local and international affairs.“Moore’s work recalls the international ‘entertainments’ of Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
or John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
....Intelligent and articulate, Moore offers a rich, passionate and original take on the private eye game, fans of the genre should definitely investigate, and fans of foreign intrigue will definitely appreciate,” (Kevin Burton Smith, January Magazine).
The Thrilling Detective has said of the Calvino series: "A big part of Moore's charm is his unerring eye for the intricacies of not just the Thai culture but also the Thai psyche, and the curious demimonde of the expat community, caught forever in the tug-of-war between East and West…. [H]e captures the sights and sounds and the lights of Bangkok's nightlife particularly well."
Novels from the Vincent Calvino series have been translated or are in the process of being translated into a number of languages, including German, French, Italian, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, Norwegian and Thai.
The third novel in the Vincent Calvino series Zero Hour in Phnom Pehn (original Cut Out) won the 3rd place of 2004 German Critics Award for Crime Fiction (Deutsche Krimi Preis) in the international crime fiction category. Asia Hand, the second Calvino novel, won the Shamus Award sponsored by the Private Eyes of America in 2011 in the Best Paperback Original category.
Novels in the Vincent Calvino series
- Spirit House (1992) ISBN 974-8495-58-2
- Asia Hand (1993) ISBN 974-8495-70-1
- Zero Hour in Phnom Penh (original title: Cut Out) (1994) ISBN 974-87116-3-3
- Comfort Zone (1995) ISBN 974-87754-9-6
- The Big Weird (1996) ISBN 974-89677-3-5
- Cold Hit (1999) ISBN 974-92104-1-7
- Minor Wife (2002) ISBN 974-92126-5-7
- Pattaya 24/7 (2004) ISBN 974-92066-6-5
- The Risk of Infidelity Index (2007) ISBN 978-974-88168-7-6
- Paying Back Jack (2009) ISBN 978-974-312-920-9
- The Corruptionist (2010) ISBN 978-616-90393-3-4
- 9 Gold Bullets (2011) ISBN 978-616-90393-7-2
Articles Menu
See also
- Crime fictionCrime fictionCrime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
- List of detective fiction authors
- List of mystery writers
- List of crime writers
- List of Canadian writers
- List of novelists by nationality
External links
- Vincent Calvino Official website
- Christopher G. Moore official website
- Author's Homepage
- Author's Interview
- Houston Chronicle: The Risk of Infidelity Index
- Seattle Times: The Risk of Infidelity Index
- Japan Times: Interview
- New York Times: The Risk of Infidelity Index
- The Independent: Crime fiction: Around the world in 80 sleuths
- The Telegraph
- The Daily Mail