“Wow! I started it today, and he’s knocked my socks off already. Christopher Cook’s writing is lush and deep and evocative and relentlessly forward-driving.”
      —A Reader

“…a master of setting, characterization, dialogue and narrative.”
     —The Dallas Morning News

How does a boy become a man in the Deep South?

Not without a struggle.

This powerful novella of a young boy and his extended family in rural East Texas is reminiscent of Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner both in the psychological complexity of its storytelling and in the music of its language. There is the boy and the stoic grandfather he worships, the vivacious mother he loves, the emotionally distant unemployed father he both admires and aches for, and the two violent uncles (“half man and half beast”) he fears. In that conflicted setting, the boy wonders what it means to be a man, if he can ever become one, or even if he wants to. After an unexpected killing occurs, the undercurrent of suspense builds to a climactic ending that is both highly dramatic and emotionally charged.

“…a lyric voice that sings itself raw.”
     —The New York Times

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In this award-winning short story, a professional pickpocket in Paris recalls the career he chose as a boy, his early training, and remarkable episodes in his working life. He reveals a nostalgia for an earlier era when even pickpockets showed greater respect for the quality of their craft.

This captivating story—after being rejected by numerous literary magazines in the U.S.—won first prize in a literary competition in France co-sponsored by the Sorbonne University and Paris Transcontinental magazine. It later was included in several anthologies, including Houghton Mifflin’s The Best American Mystery Stories 2003.

This e-book contains a special Author’s Note in which Christopher Cook describes the long, twisting journey of this fascinating story from its creation to its final incarnation on the international stage.

“The Pickpocket” also is available in a bilingual French-English edition, “Le Pickpocket.” You can find information on that edition elsewhere on the website or by clicking on its image in the Amazon panel to the right.

What readers are saying about “The Pickpocket”—

“Beautiful, lyrical prose plus a tale with twists that make you laugh and make you think. O. Henry would love it!”

“Christopher Cook’s grand tale engaged me from the first page… First-rate story telling.”

“A finely crafted tale of a life on the street and living by one’s wits, the complexities of honour amongst thieves and pride in ones craft, but also a meditation on the process of aging, the inevitability of change, and an evocation of the most visited city in the world.”

“I have loved short stories all of my life. A well written one like this makes the world around me disappear.”

“A book you will revisit over the years, and one that may take you to Christopher Cook’s other fascinating works. Trust me. Buy it.”

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Note de l’auteur, Christopher Cook:
La traduction de ce texte a été publiée en 2004 aux Éditions Rivages, dans un recueil de nouvelles intitulé “Moisson Noire 2004, Les meilleures nouvelles policières américaines, présentées par Michael Connelly”, collection Rivages/Thriller, sous la direction de François Guérif et dans une traduction de Pierre Bondil. Elle avait pour titre “Le Pickpocket”. Le texte en a été révisé pour la présente édition. Je remercie vivement les Éditions Rivages, François Guérif et Pierre Bondil, qui m’ont autorisé à publier la version française en livre numérique.

In this award-winning short story, a professional pickpocket in Paris recalls the career he chose as a boy, his early training, and remarkable episodes in his working life. He reveals a nostalgia for an earlier era when even pickpockets showed greater respect for the quality of their craft.

This captivating story—after being rejected by numerous literary magazines in the U.S.—won first prize in a literary competition in France co-sponsored by the Sorbonne University and Paris Transcontinental magazine. It later was included in several anthologies, including Houghton Mifflin’s The Best American Mystery Stories 2003.

This e-book contains a special Author’s Note in which Christopher Cook describes the long, twisting journey of this fascinating story from its creation to its final incarnation on the international stage.

“Le Pickpocket” also is available in an English only edition, “The Pickpocket.” You can find information on that edition elsewhere on the website or by clicking on its image in the Amazon panel to the right.

What readers are saying about “Le Pickpocket”—

“Beautiful, lyrical prose plus a tale with twists that make you laugh and make you think. O. Henry would love it!”

“Christopher Cook’s grand tale engaged me from the first page… First-rate story telling.”

“A finely crafted tale of a life on the street and living by one’s wits, the complexities of honour amongst thieves and pride in ones craft, but also a meditation on the process of aging, the inevitability of change, and an evocation of the most visited city in the world.”

“A book you will revisit over the years, and one that may take you to Christopher Cook’s other fascinating works. Trust me. Buy it.”

View details at Amazon
View details at Barnes & Noble