Jobbing crime writer finally makes The Cut

The Cut

GRAFT pays off. George Pelecanos is the proof. Commended for his work as a screenwriter and producer on The Wire, television’s most revered drama series, the dust jackets of his novels are adorned with a Stephen King comment that he’s “perhaps the greatest living crime writer.”

But it took him a while to get to the top of the mountain. He’s written a novel a year for the last 20 years. For his sixth, he only got paid $7,500.