George Pelecanos

Stuart Sim (University of Sunderland)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

George Pelecanos was born and raised in Washington, DC, the setting for most of his fiction, with a Greek immigrant background. The family owned a coffee shop, which Pelecanos ran for a while when his father was ill, and his experience of diner and bar work in his youth informs many of his works, which frequently make use of such locales. Aside from his career as a novelist he has worked in film and television as both a scriptwriter and producer, being active in the latter two roles in the critically acclaimed American TV series

The Wire

(2002-8).

There are several detective protagonists in Pelecanos’s work, Nick Stefanos (A Firing Offense (1992), Nick’s Trip (1993), Down By the River Where the Dead Men Go (1995)), the partnership of Derek Strange and Terry Quinn (Right as Rain

1598 words

Citation: Sim, Stuart. "George Pelecanos". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 February 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12514, accessed 19 March 2024.]

12514 George Pelecanos 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.