Pick-Up

Charles Willeford's Pick-Up is a bleak tale of alcoholism and suicide. Think Jim Thompson, but less a crime novel than pure tragedy. Willeford (1919-1988) was mostly unknown during his lifetime but achieved modest success toward the end of his career with a series of Miami-based crime novels. Pick-Up remains less famous than it should be, although the Library of America recently selected it for their 1950s Noir Series.