In 1972 journalist Verne E. Smith wrote an article for Newsweek called Detroit’s Heroin Subculture which would become the basis for the novel The Jones Men which was published in 1974. It was named a New York Times Notable and was nominated for an Edgar award in 1975.
One of the first things to notice is the wonderful tapestry of characters, from all different walks of life, that imbues The Jones Men. Tapestry is the best way to describe it because of the diversity of the large characters, but more importantly the way that all of their lives interact with one another. The action of the lowest of junkies can cause a domino effect that will topple those in power and those who come down on the side of the law run parallel with those that don’t. In the Coffin Ed & Grave Digger Jones books of Chester Himes, especially when taken as a whole, we see the totality of the tapestry when telling all of the stories of Harlem. This tapestry effect, where, what would be the traditional protagonist in another story, doesn’t dominate but instead shares equally the page time (and at times almost threatens to fade into the back ground).
Certainly Himes wasn’t the first writer to use this in his writings but in it’s portrayal of inner-city America this would prove to be the most dominant and influential. We see this played time and time again, from the novels of Robert Deane Pharr and Vern E Smith in the 70′s on up to all five seasons of The Wire.
From the smallest characters on up to the larger ones they are all brought vividly to life. They are all interesting enough, regardless of page time, that you want to know more about them. As the seemingly disparate plot threads all start to come together to form the completed picture it becomes increasingly interesting to see hot it all plays out,partly due to the unconventional non-linear plot structure. There is also an air of uncertainty that comes as a result of the level playing field that the characters inhabit, and the crossing of plot threads, that plays itself out in surprising ways when it comes to their fates.
One of the chief ways the characters are fleshed out is through their dialogue. Oh and what dialogue there is! This is a lean and mean book and it shows in the interactions. As far as dialogue goes this is about as realistic as you get. The demotic speech patterns of The Jones Men are infused with the street and Smith’s journalism background comes into play in conveying them objectively, more like the recording of a forgotten about mic then written dialogue.
My mention of The Wire above was deliberate because I believe that The Jones Men, from broad plot points down to character names, stands as the single greatest fiction influence on The Wire, whether it’s acknowledged or not. On a deeper level there are similarities in the way that the plots are structured and the way that the large cast of characters is handled. And on a surface level there are specific plot points that bolster The Jones Men’s claim of influence on The Wire.
In The Jones Men we find a story with: Westside heroin dealers start dropping bodies; A shipment from New York getting robbed; All of the dealers meeting in a hotel room and setting up a loose coalition to pool their money so they can get shipments from overseas, thus by-passing their NY connection; There is a young dealer who decides that he wants to control all of the action so starts a war with the established dealer to do so; Working for the established dealer is a killer with a scarred face who grew up with a Lt. on the police force. We’ll also meet a junkie who sees the streets better then the cops he help. There is even a minor character named Bug and another named Dukie.
Let me give you an example that illustrates the influence. This story, that one character tells another, about the stick-up man Joe the Grind, a man who has a strong reputation that precedes him, sounds like it could belong Omar.
“Looka here, Slim,” June Ware said. “Joe the Grind ever stick up any dope houses?”
“Shit, yeah,” Slim Williams said. “That’s how he got over so quick, robbing these little chump people. I remember once he sent his woman to the dope house with a note. She just knocked on the door, didn’t even go in, just stuck the note through the crack in the door. The note said: ‘Give my woman all the dope you got and all the money, and don’t let me have to come around there after it.’ Then he signed it ‘Joe the Grind.’ They sent the dope and all the money just like Joe say to,” Slim Williams laughed.
Much was made the year when Hard Case Crime broke the gender barrier with Christa Faust’s Money Shot which is, quite frankly, one of the, if not the, best titles in their catalog. In other words, it’s about fucking time. One of my immediate reactions to this though was to ask (sometimes publicly) what about the race barrier? The one-two punch that I have been proposing for awhile now is to get Gary Phillips to write a new story and to re-issue The Jones Men. Smith never wrote another novel, and probably won’t. It was nominated for the top prize in the genre upon it’s release. It’s a fantastic book that has aged well. Even though it briefly saw re-issue in 1998 most people haven’t heard of it let alone read it. In other words, HCC needs a brother.
The bottom line is that The Jones Men is a book just waiting for rediscovery.
Detroit, huh? I will look for this one for sure.