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TITLE OF AN ESSAY BY A HIT MAN Crossword Answer

Title of an essay by a hit man? nyt crossword clue

We solved the clue 'Title of an essay by a hit man? nyt crossword clue ' which last appeared on June 26, 2023 in a N.Y.T crossword puzzle and had eight letters. The one solution we have is shown below. Similar clues are also included in case you ended up here searching only a part of the clue text.

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. Title of an essay by a hit man? Crossword Clue answer

• by Michael Gere
• 2023-06-25 2023-06-26

. Title of an essay by a hit man? Crossword Clue Answer :

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Title of an essay by a hit man? Crossword Clue

Here is the answer for the crossword clue Title of an essay by a hit man? last seen in New York Times puzzle. We have found 40 possible answers for this clue in our database. Among them, one solution stands out with a 98% match which has a length of 8 letters. We think the likely answer to this clue is ONOFFING .

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How to Write a Memorable Hit Man: A Conversation Among Connoisseurs

Andy rausch and michael gonzales discuss their favorite hit men, lessons learned from elmore leonard, and the new anthology, 'dead end jobs'.

My introduction to the concept of a hitman was in 1972 when I sat in my local New York City grindhouse, The Tapia, and watched The Mechanic starring Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent. Directed by Michael Winner, the film introduced Arthur Bishop, a cold loner who enjoyed classical music, fine art and expensive wines. If it wasn’t for the killing part, he could’ve been just another tasteful bachelor from the Playboy era hanging out in his beautiful home and playing vinyl records on his state-of-the-art system.

Over the years, I’ve seen and read more than a few hitman (and hitwoman) movies and novels, but I never thought about writing my own until editor Andy Rausch invited me to contribute to his recently released Dead-End Jobs: A Hitman Anthology , published by All Due Respect Books.   “An incredible collection of powerful and haunting stories that exist in that shadowy realm between tragedy, nihilism and noir,” respected Razorblade Tears author S.A. Cosby blurbed this volume of neo-pulp fictions.

Rausch put together a respectable crew of writers that include vets Max Allan Collins and Joe R. Lansdale as well as Paul D. Brazill , Nikki Dolson , Tom Leins , Chris Miller and others. A crack shot team, nobody is shooting blanks. Recently I spoke with Rausch about Dead-End Jobs and the many inspirations behind   this banging collection.

Let me ask about the title Dead-End Jobs . It’s so perfect. Talk about how you came up with that.

I’d love to take credit for being the first to make the mental connection between that phrase and hitmen, but I can’t. I saw that phrase in Paul D. Brazill’s story and I knew immediately that had to be the title. I’d like to add that Paul is one of my very favorite authors too. I love his work and I think he needs to be a way bigger name than he is. If there is any justice in this world, he will gain more recognition as time passes. In my mind, Paul is one of the crime writing gods. He’s up there on the crime writing Mount Rushmore.

What inspired you to put together this collection?

A few things, actually. I had co-edited two anthologies previously, although neither of them was a straight-up crime-themed anthology. For some weird reason, I’ve always had an infatuation with hitmen. Some of my favorite novels are Max Allan Collins’s terrific Quarry series and Lawrence Block’s superb Keller series. As for films, most of my favorite films feature hitmen. So that was the first thing. The second thing was that I had been itching to put together an anthology of my own once I realized how many really talented crime writers I knew or had developed a relationship either personally or through social media. (I didn’t know all of the writers I invited to be in the anthology, but I knew a fair number of them.) Third, I realized there had never been a hitman-themed anthology before and I thought, well, there you go. So, that was the impetus.

The stories by Joe R. Lansdale (“Six-Finger Jack”) and Max Allan Collins (“Quarry’s Luck) are the only two reprints in the book. Besides the name value, what was it about those stories that made you want to reprint them in Dead-End Jobs?

To put it bluntly, they are two of my very, very favorite authors of all time, and I knew both of them through previous projects. Additionally, I have a book on Lansdale coming out from the University Press of Mississippi next year and am about to embark upon a book on Collins. I selected these stories because I thought they were both wonderfully badass stories and examples of what these men do and why they have had such long, productive careers

What is your favorite fictional (book/movie) hitman and why?

There are so many great ones, from Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction to Jack Carter in Get Carter to Chow Yun-Fat’s character, Jeffrey, in The Killer , but my very favorite is probably going to sound rather generic and obvious. It’s John Wick. The reason is because those movies are just insanely over-the-top and fun in ways that would make John Woo envious. And John Wick is almost a fucking Terminator. The guy is unstoppable and just plain badass.

I read something the other day that made me laugh. The person said that on screen, everyone seems to know what John Wick looks like… does Wick break the rules of a good hitman?

Probably. But then, pretty much all of the characters that Tommy and Jimmy kill in Goodfellas (based on a true story) know exactly what it is these men do. So I suspect it’s probably realistic in that world for some hitmen to be notorious in that milieu.

But if John Wick does in fact break the rules of being a good hitman, my own creation, Orlando Williams, also does this because, as I mentioned, it is widely known by the criminal world in those books who he is and where his day job is. So if they wanted, any of them could probably show up on the college campus and gun him down. But I like to think that there’s a code of conduct—a professionalism, real or not—that keeps them from doing this.

In your introduction you define hitmen as morally corrupt, but in your story “The Silver Lining,” the hitter seems very moral and the kill is actually a good thing. Is that rare?

I can’t speak to the rarity of a hitman with compassion but those are the kind of characters I always try to write. I have written three novels focusing on hitmen, two of which feature Orlando Williams ( The Suicide Game and Layla’s Score ), the protagonist of “The Silver Lining.” Orlando is a ridiculously fascinating and likely unrealistic character in that he’s a black hitman working for the Italian Mafia, but that’s just sort of his side hustle. His primary job is being Professor of Russian Literature at UCLA. Because of this, he’s known in the underworld as “The Professor”. But he’s not the only hitman like that I’ve written about. I’ve also written about Lefty Collins in Layla’s Score , who is a hitman who finds a little girl after doing a hit and then takes her in and raises her as his own. There’s also Chino Genetti, the hitman protagonist in Let It Kill You , who falls in love with his mark and then has to go to war with the Mafia to save her.

But are hitmen really compassionate, or is the compassionate hitman just mythic trope like the hooker with the heart of gold? It’s likely the latter, but some of my favorite fictional hitmen—particularly Jeffrey in The Killer and Michael Sullivan in Road to Perdition —are compassionate men who wind up killing to save people they love. But are they realistic? I don’t know. I’ve only met one hitman—true story, I once interviewed a hitman who had gone into witness protection, for a nonfiction book I was working on that I ended up scrapping—and I did not ask him if he was compassionate because, frankly, I was terrified of him and couldn’t wait for the interview to conclude.

As far as the idea of killing for reasons of morality or righteousness in reality, I think the person doing the killing actually becomes the very evil they are opposed to in carrying that out. So it’s a nice idea in theory, but I believe it’s actually a problematic concept.

You’ve done a few anthologies, what unique challenges did this book present?

There were no real challenges. I think my only challenges were to try and write a story that was as good or better than the other stories in the collection (no one wants to get upstaged in their own book) and to try and make this book better than the two previous anthologies, both of which I think contained some questionable stories selected by my co-editors. But there were no co-editors on this one, so there is only me (and the author) to blame if any of the stories selected fall flat.

If hitmen are so morally corrupt, why are they always so cool?

I think the occupation has to be morally corrupt in that it’s someone actually taking money to kill someone they don’t know. But then that’s essentially what soldiers do too, so what the hell do I know? As to the reason why hitmen are so cool, I think it’s because they—and all fictional criminals really—can do the things that we might sometimes want to do but can’t because the actions are morally and/or socially unacceptable, and also because we would go to prison or go to the electric chair.

You’ve written interviewed and written about Quentin Tarantino, whose Pulp Fiction characters Jules and Vincent are hitmen. Did Tarantino pass on any hitman knowledge?

Only through the film, and that lesson was essentially what Elmore Leonard’s novels were always about: criminals are real people who live real, normal lives when they’re not killing people or robbing banks or whatever their particular skill set is. That element has always been a big part of the characters I myself write, and I absolutely thank Tarantino and Elmore Leonard for teaching me that. I discovered Tarantino first, and then through him I discovered Leonard. (I’ve now written nonfiction books about both men, by the way. My volume on Leonard comes out from McFarland & Company in 2022.)

Who are you currently reading? What’s your next project?

The best book I’ve read this year (or probably the last five years) is S.A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears . The book was just incredible. This comes on the heels of his book, Blacktop Wasteland , which was the best book I read last year. Cosby is a gift to the crime genre and he is the heir apparent to Elmore Leonard. Cosby is the best crime writer working today. There are many great crime writers, but Cosby is the cream of the crop. I tried to get him in this book but was unable. But we were lucky enough to get a good blurb from him.

As far as what I’m working on, I’m finishing the strangest crime novel you can imagine. It’s a neo-noir crime novel that takes place in Hell. Yes, that’s what I said—Hell. I’m having a blast writing it. Will it fly? Who knows? But I’m coming off of last year’s American Trash , which I feel is the best novel of my career. So I figured, why not stretch my wings a little and try to do some new, scary, and bold things? So that’s where this came from. It will be the first book in a series.

___________________________________

The Gonzales Top Ten Hit List

1. Léon: The Professional (1994)

2. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

3. Collateral (2004)

4. The Mechanic (2011 remake)

5. The Hitman (comic book created by Garth Ennis and John McCrea)

6. The Mad and the Bad by Jean-Patrick Manchette

7. Killer Joe (2012)

8. Torpedo 1936 (graphic novel) written by Enrique Sánchez Abulí/drawn by Alex Toth and Jordi Bernet,

9. La Femme Nikita (1990)

10. Shadowboxer (2005)

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Michael Gonzales

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Feasting, drinking and blowing things up: The history of US Independence Day

Nice weather, family barbeques, parades, fireworks and red, white and blue everything ­­­– Americans are preparing to celebrate Independence Day this weekend with time-honored and beloved traditions.

Known now as a day of patriotism and enjoying time off from work, the Fourth of July began the journey to becoming a quintessential American holiday in 1776, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Though 12 of the 13 American colonies had already approved the resolution by July 2, 1776, even prompting John Adams to write his daughter with predictions of future July Second festivities, the document declaring independence from Britain wasn’t officially adopted until July 4.

Some Americans began celebrating the very same year, though the practice wouldn’t become widespread until the aftermath of the War of 1812.

Congress finally passed a bill making Independence Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1870. In 1941, the law was amended to make it a paid holiday for federal employees.

Though some traditions associated with the Fourth of July have changed or disappeared over time – hosting mock funerals for the king of England, for example – many have remained true to their roots in the almost 250 years since the declaration was signed.

If you’ve ever wondered why we associate exploding colors in the sky and feasting on outdoor meals with celebrating America’s independence, read on to learn about the origins of our favorite July Fourth festivities.  

Ultimate Fourth of July playlist: Your guide to the ultimate Fourth of July music playlist, from 'God Bless America' to 'Firework'

Fireworks displays are perhaps the most iconic of all Fourth of July revelries. The first celebration came in earnest on July 4, 1777, described on July 5 in the Pennsylvania Evening Post as a demonstration of “joy and festivities.”

Ships “dressed in the gayest manner, with the colors of the United States and streamers displayed” approached the city and fired off 13 cannon shots, one for each colony-turned-state. Later in the evening, 13 fireworks were set off in the city commons in Philadelphia and Boston, which the Evening Post described as a “grand exhibition of fireworks … and the city was beautifully illuminated.”

According to Dr. Tyler Putman , senior manager of gallery interpretation at the Museum of the American Revolution , fireworks had been used in the colonies before 1776, but not in such grand fashion.

“You would have seen fireworks at a lot of festivities, celebrations, anniversaries, you know, things like the king's birthday or big events, but they often were not enormous, launched-in-the-sky fireworks,” he told USA TODAY.

“People would build these kind of structures and frameworks that would then catch on fire, or parts of them would launch off, and often they would be in certain shapes, like a bunch of stars or a dancing person … kind of like a Burning Man sort of thing.”

It wasn’t until the 18 th century, said Putman, that fireworks were perfected and began to resemble the explosive rockets we know today.

Fireworks divide Americans: America's right to bear fireworks continues to make American Independence Day divisive

Visit any city or town on the U.S. map on the Fourth of July and you could find a parade of some sort making its way through Main Street. Mentions of parades, another tradition that harks closely back to Revolution-era origins, can be found in the earliest correspondences about the newly minted but still unofficial holiday.

In a letter John Adams wrote to his daughter , Abigail Adams, on July 2, 1776, he described what would later be known as Independence Day, predicting it would become “the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. − I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.”

Though Adams mistakenly asserted the holiday would be commemorated on the second of the month as opposed to the fourth, he was correct in his predictions of the merrymaking to follow.

“It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more,” he wrote.

What's open on July 4th? Starbucks, McDonald's, Target, Walmart open; Costco closed

Back then, parades looked markedly different from the ones we attend today.

During the Revolutionary War, parades were generally reserved for the military, with armies marching the streets to reach their destinations. It wasn’t until years after the war, in the late 1700s to early 1800s, said Putman, that parades began to look more like what we would recognize today.

When parades began to appear as part of annual celebrations as opposed to one-off events, they didn’t yet feature the marching bands and firetrucks we’re familiar with but instead were full of groups of normal people from town. The city’s butchers, for example, would walk together as one group, and shipbuilders would construct massive floats to be pulled down the street by horses.

“Sometimes you read about parades where, like, in Philadelphia, tens of thousands of people are in the parade and you kind of wonder who is left to watch the parade,” Putman said. “There are so many people, if all the shipwright and the shoemakers and the grocers are all already marching the parade, it's mostly just kids, probably, who are like, ‘Well, I guess I'll wait as this 10,000-person parade goes by.’”

Barbeques and picnics

Independence Day falling in early July is probably reason enough to enjoy a meal outside to take advantage of the warm summer weather. The urge to fire up the grill and lay a picnic blanket out on the grass, however, can also be tied back to original holiday celebrations.

“The really interesting thing about the Fourth of July is that it then spawned all of these semi-public or private celebrations," Putman said. "So, you might go watch the parade and then you have your family barbecue. In the late 1700s, 1800s, people might go out for a big public event, like a giant picnic or parade, but then they'll go back to taverns or family homes.”

Drinking was certainly a prominent component for many Americans, some of whom would go to the local pub and propose toasts in the name of things like independence, the Constitution and the president. George Washington himself even issued double rations of rum to his soldiers on the 1778 and 1781 anniversaries in observation of the day.

Grilling tips: Grilling your burgers wrong could be risky. Here's how to do it right

Because what we now know as barbeque food began as a form of cooking brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans, it had not yet become a staple of the national diet. Instead, revelers of the day probably would have attended a pig roast or seafood boil. It wasn’t until about 100 years after independence that barbeque went from being a food for poor, enslaved people to being popularized on a national scale, Putman said.

Feasting and drinking "was true of really elite people but also really poor, common, even enslaved people, not just on the Fourth of July, but other holidays would use this as a chance to kind of build community and think about what it meant to be an American.” 

Red, white and blue everything

Walk into a grocery store in July today and you will be bombarded by red, white and blue plastered on everything from cocktail napkins to beach towels. In the early days of American independence, however, the colors were not yet representative of a flag that was recognized as universally and uniquely American. In fact, it wasn't until June 1777 that Congress even approved the first official iteration of the flag , which changed many times between inception and the final design created in 1960.

“During the Revolutionary War, flags were something that had kind of a functional purpose: They fly above a fort or they're on the top mast of a ship,” Putman said. “It's really not until the American Civil War, the 1860s, that most people started to use the flag in more personal ways.”

Before then, you would never see the average person, for example, hanging a flag in front of their house, he said. The tensions of the Civil War prompted people to begin adopting iconography of flags, which not only delineated opposing sides of the war but stood as a symbol of different things for individual Americans, like emancipation for Black Americans. During this era, the flag began to appear in places other than flying in front of government buildings, such as on shirts.

This use of the flag’s colors on everyday items grew in popularity in the 1900s, said Putman, and has become even more common in the past few decades. The 50-star flag we now recognize was not unveiled until 1960, after Hawaii and Alaska joined the union in 1959.

More on the Fourth

Looking for more ways to celebrate the Fourth? Check out our guides on some of the best holiday deals , tips for keeping everyone in the family safe and tricks to make the most of the day .

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‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Review: Silent Beginnings

The chills are more effective than the thrills in this prequel to the “A Quiet Place” franchise.

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By Elisabeth Vincentelli

The cat. It’s all about the cat.

No matter what else happens in “A Quiet Place: Day One,” no matter how sensational Lupita Nyong’o is — and she is — her character’s feline buddy is going to take over the story and, likely, the discourse around it.

Mind you, there also was a cat, Jones, in “Alien,” a movie that’s a major influence on the “Quiet Place” universe — one in which aliens land on Earth and massacre everybody for no reason besides sheer killing instinct. John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” (2018) and “A Quiet Place Part II” (2021) laid down the basic parameters, mainly that the creatures’ extremely developed hearing makes up for their blindness, and they hate bodies of water.

But Jones was peripheral to “Alien,” the masterpiece that kicked off a franchise revolving around body invasion. Our fearless new hero is very much embedded in the theme running through all three “Quiet Place” movies: the importance of family, whether biological or chosen.

In Michael Sarnoski’s prequel, Frodo (played by both Nico and Schnitzel) is the support cat of Samira (Nyong’o), a New York City poet living in crippling cancer-induced pain in a hospice. She takes Frodo everywhere, including an outing to a puppet show, where the audience members include a man (Djimon Hounsou) whom viewers of the second movie will instantly recognize. When the invasion begins, he is quick to impart the importance of making as little noise as possible to avoid alerting the attackers.

Somehow borne on meteorites (don’t ask), the aliens immediately get down to their gruesome business. The movie allows us a few good looks at the toothy monsters, who made me think of hellish Giacometti sculptures. But otherwise Sarnoski (who made the endearing Nicolas Cage drama “Pig” ) does not add all that much crucial new information to their basic character sheet — “Day One” is refreshingly free of origin story explaining.

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