George Pelecanos

Pelecanos, a Greek American, was born in Washington, D.C., in 1957.

{{BLP sources section|date=January 2025}}

Pelecanos acknowledged that Elmore Leonard was a prime influence on him as an author.{{Cite news|title = Author Elmore Leonard dies at 87|date = August 20, 2013|url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/08/20/author-elmore-leonard-dies-at-87/2676101/|last = McClurg|first = Jocelyn and Carol Memmott|work = USA Today}} In addition to Leonard, he cited the works of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, Mickey Spillane, and John le Carré for getting him hooked on crime fiction.{{Cite news|title = By the Book: George Pelecanos|date = August 23, 2018|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/books/review/by-the-book-george-pelecanos.html|work = New York Times}}

Pelecanos's early novels were written in the first person voice of Nick Stefanos, a Greek D.C. resident and sometime private investigator.

After the success of his first four novels, the Stefanos-narrated A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, and Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, and the non-series (though some characters do cross over) Shoedog, Pelecanos switched his narrative style considerably and expanded the scope of his fiction with his D.C. Quartet. He has commented that he did not feel he had the ability to be this ambitious earlier in his career.{{cite web

|author = Robert Birnbaum

|title = Interview: George Pelecanos

|date = April 21, 2003

|publisher = Identity Theory

|access-date = September 17, 2007

|url = http://www.identitytheory.com/interviews/birnbaum100.html

}} The quartet, often compared to James Ellroy's L.A. Quartet, spanned several decades and communities within the changing population of Washington. Now writing in the third person, Pelecanos relegated Stefanos to a supporting character and introduced his first "salt and pepper" team of crime fighters, Dimitri Karras and Marcus Clay.

In The Big Blowdown, set a generation before Karras and Clay would appear (the 1950s), Pelecanos followed the lives of dozens of D.C. residents, tracking the challenges and changes that the second half of the twentieth century presented to Washingtonians. King Suckerman, set in the 1970s and generally regarded as the fans' favorite, introduced the recurring theme of basketball in Pelecanos' fiction. Typically, he employs the sport as a symbol of cooperation amongst the races, suggesting the dynamism of D.C. as reflective of the good will generated by multi-ethnic pick up games. However, he also indulges the reverse of the equation, wherein the basketball court becomes the site of unresolved hostilities. In such cases, violent criminal behavior typically emerges amongst the participants, usually escalating the mystery. The Sweet Forever (1980s) and Shame the Devil (1990s) closed the quartet and Pelecanos retired Stefanos and the other characters that populated the novels. (Stefanos and other characters do reappear in subsequent works).

In 2001, he introduced a new team of private detectives, Derek Strange and Terry Quinn, as the protagonists of Right as Rain. They have subsequently starred in the author's more recent works Hell to Pay (which won a Gumshoe Award in 2003) and Soul Circus. While these books have cemented the author's reputation as one of the best current American crime writers and sold consistently, they have not garnered the critical and cult affection his D.C. quartet did. Rather, they seem to be continuing the author's well received formula of witty protagonists chasing unconflicted criminals behind the backdrop of popular culture references and D.C. landmarks.

Perhaps sensing this, Pelecanos again switched his focus in his 2004 novel, Hard Revolution, taking one of his new detectives, Derek Strange, back in time to his early days on the D.C. police force. In another interesting move, Pelecanos attached a CD to the book itself, emulating Michael Connelly who included a CD with his 2003 Harry Bosch book Lost Light.

In 2005, Pelecanos saw another novel published, Drama City. This book revisited the examination of dogfighting begun in his book Hell To Pay. Pelecanos is a dog owner and has written about his views of dogfighting.{{cite web

|author = George Pelecanos

|title = Dogfighting's Poisonous Politics

|publisher = New Republic

|access-date = September 1, 2007

|url = http://209.212.93.14/doc.mhtml?i=20070910&s=pelecanos091007

|archive-url = https://archive.today/20071010131600/http://209.212.93.14/doc.mhtml?i=20070910&s=pelecanos091007

|url-status = dead

|archive-date = October 10, 2007

}}

In 2006 he published The Night Gardener, which was a major change of style and which featured a cameo of himself. Pelecanos has also published short fiction in a variety of anthologies and magazines, including Measures of Poison and Usual Suspects. His reviews have been published in The Washington Post Book World, The New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere.

The Turnaround was published in August 2008, reflecting a return to his roots, as the novel opens in the 70s in a Greek diner, and a continuation of his more modern style in the portion set in the present. The Turnaround won the 2008's Hammett Prize.

In 2011, Pelecanos published The Cut, introducing the character Spero Lucas, a young veteran of the Iraq war. The former Marine works part-time as a private investigator for a D.C. defense attorney as well as taking jobs finding stolen items for a 40% cut of the value of the returned item. In 2013, Pelecanos published The Double, the second Spero Lucas book.

Pelecanos has in turn influenced other novelists. They include Kristen Lepionka, who won the Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel in 2018. Lepionka cited his "lean, laconic prose."{{Cite news|title = A Certain Sly Intelligence|date = July 17, 2008|url = https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-certain-sly-intelligence/|last = Brissette|first = Karen|work = L.A. Review of Books}} The introduction to a 2018 interview with William Boyle pointed to Pelecanos's influence on Boyle, in particular as a "meticulous chronicler of process."{{Cite news|title = Noir Is All About Bad Decisions: The Millions Interviews William Boyle|date = October 12, 2018|url = https://themillions.com/2018/10/noir-is-all-about-bad-decisions-the-millions-interviews-william-boyle.html|last = Nelson|first = Elizabeth|work = The Millions}}

Pelecanos has written and produced for HBO's The Wire and is part of a literary circle with The Wire creator David Simon and novelist Laura Lippman. Simon sought out Pelecanos after reading his work. Simon was recommended his novels several times but did not read his work initially because of territorial prejudice; Simon is from Baltimore.{{cite web |author=Mary Alice Blackwell |title=Fun comes down to 'The Wire' |publisher=Daily Progress |access-date=September 27, 2006 |url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/CDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350356360&TheWireHBO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124030307/http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350356360&TheWireHBO |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 24, 2007 }} Once Simon received further recommendations, including one from Lippman, he tried The Sweet Forever and changed his mind.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/22/071022fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=1|title=Stealing Life|access-date=October 14, 2007|magazine=The New Yorker|year=2007|author=Margaret Talbot}} The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, Maryland, attendance at the University of Maryland, and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor". They first met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos was excited about the prospect of writing something more than simple mystery for television as he strived to exceed the boundaries of genre in his novels.

Pelecanos joined the crew as a writer for the first season in 2002.{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_1.shtml|title=Season 1 crew|access-date=October 14, 2007|publisher=HBO|year=2007}} He wrote the teleplay for the season's penultimate episode, "Cleaning Up", from a story by Simon and Ed Burns.{{cite web|year = 2004|title = Episode guide - episode 12 The Hunt|publisher = HBO|access-date = July 31, 2006|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season1/episode12.shtml}}{{cite episode |title = Cleaning Up |episode-link = Cleaning Up (The Wire episode) |series = The Wire |series-link = The Wire (TV series) |credits = David Simon, Ed Burns, George P. Pelecanos |network = HBO |airdate = September 1, 2002 |season = 1 |number = 12}} Pelecanos was promoted to producer for the second season in 2003.{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_2.shtml|title=Season 2 crew|access-date=October 14, 2007|publisher=HBO|year=2007|archive-date=October 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012034646/http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_2.shtml|url-status=dead}} He wrote the teleplay for the episodes "Duck and Cover"{{cite web|year = 2004|title = Episode guide - episode 21 duck and cover|publisher = HBO|access-date = June 22, 2006|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season2/episode08.shtml}}{{cite episode |title = Duck and Cover |series = The Wire |credits = David Simon, George P. Pelecanos |network = HBO |airdate = July 27, 2003 |season = 2 |number = 8}} and "Bad Dreams" from stories he co-wrote with Simon.{{cite web|year = 2004|title = Episode guide - episode 24 bad dreams|publisher = HBO|access-date = June 22, 2006|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season2/episode11.shtml|archive-date = December 16, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181216031924/https://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season2/episode11.shtml|url-status = dead}}{{cite episode |title = Bad Dreams |episode-link = Bad Dreams (The Wire episode) |series = The Wire |credits = David Simon, George P. Pelecanos |network = HBO |airdate = August 17, 2003 |season = 2 |number = 11}} He remained a writer and producer for the third season in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_3.shtml|title=Season 3 crew|access-date=October 14, 2007|publisher=HBO|year=2007|archive-date=October 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012034651/http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_3.shtml|url-status=dead}} He wrote the teleplay for the episodes "Hamsterdam"{{cite web|year = 2004|title = Episode guide - episode 29 Amsterdam|publisher = HBO|access-date = August 7, 2006|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season3/episode04.shtml}}{{cite episode |title = Amsterdam |episode-link = Amsterdam (The Wire episode) |series = The Wire |credits = David Simon, Ed Burns |network = HBO |airdate = October 10, 2004 |season = 3 |number = 4}} and "Middle Ground" from stories he co-wrote with Simon.{{cite web|year = 2004|title = Episode guide - episode 36 middle ground|publisher = HBO|access-date = August 9, 2006|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season3/episode11.shtml}}{{cite episode |title = Middle Ground |episode-link = Middle Ground (The Wire episode) |series = The Wire |credits = David Simon, George P. Pelecanos |network = HBO |airdate = December 12, 2004 |season = 3 |number = 11}} Simon wrote the teleplay for the episode "Slapstick" from a story he co-wrote with Pelecanos.{{cite web| year = 2004| title = Episode guide - episode 34 slapstick| publisher = HBO| access-date = August 9, 2006| url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season3/episode09.shtml}}{{cite episode | title = Slapstick | episode-link = Slapstick (The Wire) | series = The Wire | credits = David Simon, George P. Pelecanos | network = HBO | airdate = November 21, 2004 | season = 3 | number = 9}} Simon and Pelecanos' collaboration on "Middle Ground" received the show's first Emmy Award nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.tv/awards/awardsearch.php|title=Emmy award archives|access-date=October 16, 2007|publisher=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|year=2007}} Pelecanos left the production staff of The Wire after the show's third season to concentrate on writing his novel The Night Gardener.{{cite web|url=http://members.aol.com/TheWireHBO/exclusive-17.html|title=Exclusive David Simon Q&A|access-date=October 14, 2007|publisher=AOL|year=2007}} His role as a producer was taken on by Eric Overmyer.

File:Pelecanos.JPG, in 2008]]

Pelecanos remained a writer for the fourth season in 2006. He wrote the teleplay for the penultimate episode "That's Got His Own" from a story he co-wrote with producer Ed Burns.{{cite web|year = 2006|title = Episode guide - episode 49 That's Got His Own|publisher = HBO|access-date = March 30, 2007|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season4/episode49.shtml}}{{cite episode |title = That's Got His Own |episode-link = That's Got His Own (The Wire episode) |series = The Wire |credits = Ed Burns, George Pelecanos (directors), George Pelecanos (writer) |network = HBO |airdate = December 3, 2004 |season = 4 |number = 12}} Simon has commented that he missed having Pelecanos working on the show full-time but was a fan of The Night Gardener. Simon also spent time embedded with a homicide unit while researching his own book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Pelecanos and the writing staff won the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2008 ceremony and the 2007 Edgar Award for Best Television Feature/Mini-Series Teleplay for their work on the fourth season.{{cite web|title = Curtains Receives Edgar Award Nomination|publisher = Theatre Mania|url = http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/9924|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081216124435/http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/9924|archive-date = December 16, 2008|url-status = dead}}{{cite web|url=http://wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=2653#TheWireHBO |title=2008 Writers Guild Awards Television & Radio Nominees Announced |access-date=December 13, 2007 |publisher=WGA |year=2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219203806/http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=2653 |archive-date=December 19, 2007 }} Pelecanos returned as a writer for the series fifth and final season. He wrote the teleplay for the episode "Late Editions" from a story he co-wrote with Simon.{{cite episode | title = Late Editions | episode-link = Late Editions | series = The Wire | series-link = The Wire | credits = Joe Chappelle (director), George Pelecanos (story and teleplay), David Simon (story) | network = HBO | airdate = March 2, 2008 | season = 5 | number = 9}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season5/episode59.shtml|title=The Wire episode guide - episode 59 Late Editions|access-date=March 10, 2008|publisher=HBO|year=2008}} Pelecanos and the writing staff were again nominated for the WGA award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season but Mad Men won the award.{{cite web|url=http://wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3410 |title=2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced |access-date=December 12, 2008 |publisher=WGA |year=2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212052838/http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3410 |archive-date=December 12, 2008 }}

Following the conclusion of The Wire Pelecanos joined the crew of the HBO World War II mini-series The Pacific as a co-producer and writer.{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/#/the-pacific/cast-and-crew/george-pelecanos/index.html|title=The Pacific Cast and Crew - George Pelecanos|access-date=May 15, 2010|publisher=HBO|year=2010}} After a lengthy production process the series aired in 2010. He co-wrote "Part 3" of the series with fellow co-producer Michelle Ashford.{{cite episode|title = Part 3|series = The Pacific|series-link = The Pacific (miniseries)|credits = Jeremy Podeswa (director), George Pelecanos and Michelle Ashford (writers)|network = HBO|airdate = March 28, 2010|season = 1|number = 3}} The episode focused on Marines on leave in Australia and featured a displaced Greek family in a prominent guest role.{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/#/the-pacific/cast-and-crew/george-pelecanos/index.html|title=The Pacific Part 3 - synopsis|access-date=May 15, 2010|publisher=HBO|year=2010}} Pelecanos saw the project as a chance to make a tribute to his father, Pete Pelecanos, who served as a Marine in the Philippines.{{cite web|url=http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/georgepelecanos/film/pacific.html|title=George Pelecanos on Film - The Pacific|access-date=May 15, 2010|publisher=Hatchett Book Group USA|year=2010|author=George Pelecanos}}

Also in 2010 Pelecanos joined the crew of HBO New Orleans drama Treme as a writer. The series was created by Simon and Overmeyer. It follows the lives of residents of the Tremé neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina.{{cite web|url=http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/georgepelecanos/film/index.html|title=Pelcanos on Film - Treme|access-date=May 15, 2010|publisher=Hatchett Book Group USA|year=2010|author=George Pelecanos}} Pelecanos wrote the teleplay for the episode "At the Foot of Canal Street" from a story he co-wrote with Overmyer.{{cite episode|title = At The Foot of Canal Street|series = Treme |series-link = Treme (TV series)|credits = Anthony Hemingway (director), Eric Overmyer & George Pelecanos (story), George Pelecanos (teleplay)|network = HBO|airdate = May 2, 2010|season = 1|number = 4}} Pelecanos returned as a Consulting Producer and writer for the second season in 2011. He joined the crew full-time as a writer and executive producer for the third season in 2012. He remained in this role for the fourth and final season in 2013.

Following the conclusion of Treme Pelecanos worked with Overmyer on his next series Bosch. The series was developed by Overmyer and is based on the series of novels by Michael Connelly. The series stars The Wire alumni Jamie Hector and Lance Reddick. Pelecanos and Michael Connelly co-wrote the show's fourth episode "Fugazi".

In 2017, HBO premiered The Deuce, a new series developed by Pelecanos and David Simon. The show focuses on the birth of the pornography industry in 1970s Times Square. George also co-authored several of the teleplays, including the pilot, with Simon, and co-authored episodes with Richard Price and Lisa Lutz.{{cite web|title=The Deuce|url=https://www.hbo.com/the-deuce|website=HBO|language=en}}

In 2019, Pelecanos' D.C. Noir anthology was made into a film featuring several short fictional crime stories which take place in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7637778/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1|title = DC Noir (2019) - IMDb|website = IMDb}} Pelecanos wrote the film and also served as a director and executive producer. The film was shot on location in Washington, D.C., and is reminiscent of HBO's The Wire.

He is currently{{when|date=January 2025}} developing a series based on his Derek Strange character for HBO. The first season will be based on the Derek Strange novel Hard Revolution.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/just-asking-novelist-george-pelecanos-takes-his-latest-shot/2015/01/21/94f05410-95e5-11e4-8005-1924ede3e54a_story.html|title=Just Asking: Author George Pelecanos on the 'other' Washington's history|first=Joe|last=Heim|date=January 30, 2015|access-date=May 31, 2018|via=www.washingtonpost.com}} More recently, he signed an overall deal with HBO.{{Cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=August 25, 2021|title=George Pelecanos Inks Overall Deal With HBO; Sets Series Adaptation Of John D. MacDonald's 'The Last One Left'|url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/the-wire-george-pelecanos-overall-deal-hbo-series-adaptation-john-d-macdonalds-the-last-one-left-1234821841/|access-date=August 26, 2021|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}

{{As of|2006}}, Pelecanos lives in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland,{{cite web

|author = Walker Lamond

|title = DC Confidential

|publisher = Stop Smiling

|access-date = September 21, 2008

|url = http://stopsmilingonline.com/story_detail.php?id=1175

}} with his wife and three children.

{{Incomplete list|date=May 2017}}

• Shoedog (1994). {{ISBN|0312110618}}
• Drama City (2005). {{ISBN|0316608211}}
• The Night Gardener (2006). {{ISBN|978-0316156509}}
• The Turnaround (2008). {{ISBN|978-0316156479}}
• The Way Home (2009).{{cite news|title = WaPo review - The Way Home|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/10/AR2009051002117.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Kevin | last=Allman | date=May 11, 2009 | access-date=May 3, 2010}} {{ISBN|978-0316156493}}
• The Man Who Came Uptown (2018) {{ISBN|978-0316479820}}

• A Firing Offense (1992). {{ISBN|0312069707}}
• Nick's Trip (1993). {{ISBN|0312088620}}
• Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go (1995). {{ISBN|0312130562}}

• The Big Blowdown (1996). {{ISBN|0312142846}}
• King Suckerman (1997). {{ISBN|0316695904}}
• The Sweet Forever (1998). {{ISBN|0316691097}}
• Shame the Devil (2000). {{ISBN|0316695238}}

• Right as Rain (2001). {{ISBN|0316695262}}
• Hell to Pay (2002). {{ISBN|0316695068}}
• Soul Circus (2003). {{ISBN|0316608432}}
• Hard Revolution (2004). {{ISBN|0316608971}}
• What It Was (2012). {{ISBN|978-0316209533}}

• The Cut (2011).{{cite web|last=Ashman|first=Jud|title=The Cut review|url=http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/the-cut/|work=Book review|publisher=The Washington Independent Review of Books|access-date=September 8, 2011}} {{ISBN|978-0316078429}}
• The Double (2013).{{cite web|last=Hewitt |first=Duncan |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/26/treme-writer-and-detective-novelist-george-pelecanos-how-i-write.html |title='Treme' Writer and Detective Novelist George Pelecanos: How I Write |publisher=The Daily Beast |date=September 26, 2012 |access-date=October 22, 2012}} {{ISBN|978-0316078399}}

• The Martini Shot (2015). {{ISBN|978-0316284370}}
• Owning Up (2024). {{ISBN|978-0316570473}}

• D.C. Noir (2006). {{ISBN|978-1888451900}}
• D.C. Noir 2: The Classics (2008). {{ISBN|978-1933354583}}
• Best American Mystery Stories 2008, with Otto Penzler (2008). {{ISBN|978-0618812677}}

• {{cite magazine |author=Pelecanos, George |date=June 10–17, 2013 |title=Twisted |department=True Crimes |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=89 |issue=17 |pages=54–55 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/10/twisted-2 }}

Production staff

Writer

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|George Pelecanos}}

• {{Official website|https://www.george-pelecanos.com/}}
• {{IMDb name|0670782}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150910234750/http://www.iblist.com/author1792.htm George P. Pelecanos] at the Internet Book List

{{George Pelecanos}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelecanos, George}}

Category:1957 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:American male novelists

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:American mystery writers

Category:Television producers from Maryland

Category:American television writers

Category:American writers of Greek descent

Category:Barry Award winners

Category:American male television writers

Category:Maltese Falcon Award winners

Category:The New Yorker people

Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni

Category:Novelists from Maryland

Category:Novelists from Washington, D.C.

Category:Writers from Silver Spring, Maryland

Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:Screenwriters from Maryland

Category:Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.