Hannibal Lecter: A Life

In his acknowledgments, the author explains that despite reaching out to Thomas Harris, all his requests were declined which makes this book all the more intriguing. He closes “I respect any artist who manages to preserve one of the twenty-first century’s most rarefied assets: a sense of mystery.”

Journalist Brian Raftery’s extraordinary piece of research reveals a vivid insight into perhaps one of the most reclusive [and mysterious] authors of modern times. Like J.D. Salinger or Thomas Pynchon, Harris guards his privacy judiciously; but what differentiates Thomas Harris is his singular creation, the gothic pulp villain Dr Hannibal Lecter – a character that has broken free from the shackles of the written page becoming physically part of our contemporary culture. Even Donald J Trump made mention of “…the late great Hannibal Lecter…” in his 2024 election rallies when he was campaigning for U.S. President.

Though Raftery’s book eponymously references the character that gave Thomas Harris his literary notoriety, this book is far more that of a one-trick pony. His appendix details all the sources he mined [and referenced] in order to produce what is the most exhaustive examination of Thomas Harris and his work [which spans six novels, six films, and a three season TV series]. Raftery’s book also explores how Harris’ Cannibal Psychiatrist became a cultural icon and perhaps as an anti-hero, is a reflection of our cruel times. Harris commented in his 1999 novel ‘Hannibal’ “Now that ceaseless exposure has calloused us to the lewd and the vulgar, it is instructive to see what still seems wicked to us. What still slaps the clammy flab of our submissive consciousness hard enough to get our attention?” Was Harris trying to get our attention, like the Parisian Théâtre du Grand-Guignol did [before, between and following] the traumas of Two World Wars?

Raftery commences his journey with early insights into Thomas Harris’ childhood in small-town America [Rich, Mississippi]. Stories of serial killers Alonzo Robinson [aka James H Coyner], and Ed Gein would feature in the lurid magazines Front Page Detective, Inside Detective, True Detective et al. that prevailed at that time, and which the curious young Harris was exposed to.

The Deep South was also where he was educated, and where he was a solitary boy becoming an avid reader. Following studies at Baylor University, Harris worked initially as a local journalist but soon became a staff-writer at the magazine Argosy. His interest in True Crime would lead him to Nuevo Leon Prison in Monterrey where he met incarcerated serial murderer Dykes Askew Simmons and Prison Doctor “Salazar”. Harris would later discover “Salazar” was actually a Prison inmate named Alfredo Balli Trevifino. Raftery conjectures that it was during this visit to Nuevo Leon Prison that the seeds of Dr Hannibal Lecter solidified in Harris’ imagination.  The young journalist would then take his motorcycle to New York and work for the Associated Press [AP], where with two colleagues the trio would research a thriller entitled ‘Black Sunday’. However, after brainstorming, the physical writing of the novel fell to Harris alone; though he would credit his two AP colleagues Sam Maull and Dick Riley for working on the story when ‘Black Sunday’ appeared in 1975 as his debut novel. Much mention is made of John Frankenheimer’s film adaptation in 1977, and how that changed Harris’ fortunes from being a poor journalist to a bestselling author. ‘Black Sunday’ became a template for Harris in transforming a ‘pulpy’ idea into a page-turning literary thriller that would set the stage for introducing his singular creation, the cannibalistic psychiatrist.

Raftery moves to 1981 when Dr Hannibal Lecter would first appear in Harris’s ‘Red Dragon’. Though a minor character, a side show attraction [appearing in only a few pages], Lecter is rarely mentioned in book reviews at the time – though his presence was critical to the success [and notoriety] of this extraordinary thriller and his successive appearances, where the Cannibal would take centre stage. Raftery indicates it was during the extensive research behind ‘Red Dragon’ that the author first became introduced to the FBI’s Behavioural Sciences Unit [BSU] in Quantico. Harris friendship with FBI special agents Robert Ressler and John Douglas would continue beyond ‘Red Dragon’, bleeding into ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ in 1988.  Beyond Ressler; Raftery makes mention of other FBI BSU agents that Harris met up with, especially Anthea Varounis – who appears to be one of the major influences in shaping the Clarice Starling character.

Apart from insights into the extensive research that Harris applied to produce his novels, there is much detailed examinations of the screen adaptations with many anecdotes vis-à-vis filmmakers Michael Mann, Jonathan Demme, Dino [and Martha] De Laurentiis, Ridley Scott, Ted Tally, Brett Ratner, Peter Webber as well as the actors who played the Lecter [and Lecktor] character [Brian Cox, Anthony Hopkins, Mads Mikkelsen and the late Gaspard Ulliel].

Harris’s happiness at the 1991 film version of ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ is balanced by his unease at the change of ending to ‘Hannibal’ in 2001.

The sections relating to 2006’s novel ‘Hannibal Rising’ and the 2007 film of the same name, are most insightful, especially the dilemma Thomas Harris faced in deciding to follow-up ‘Hannibal’. It was curious that Harris wrote both the novel and the screenplay for ‘Hannibal Rising’ simultaneously, and to a tight deadline [despite his aversion at being rushed].

Following ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, Harris was disappointed that screenwriter Ted Tally declined adapting ‘Hannibal’ for the screen, however he was pleased when Tally signed up for adapting 2002’s ‘Red Dragon’.

In conclusion, Brian Raftery has created the most comprehensive portrait of Thomas Harris [and his character Dr Hannibal Lecter] to date. He has kept it lively, insightful, informative and amusing.

Following reading the book, I treated myself to the Audiobook, which is narrated enthusiastically by Raftery and in closing he even makes mention of Harris last novel Cari Mora [though not featuring Dr Hannibal Lecter] – considering the lurid revelations of ‘Epstein Island’ perhaps Harris was correct when asked about where he got his ideas –

“I don’t think I’ve ever made up anything…….Everything has happened. Nothing’s made up. You don’t have to make anything up in this world.”

To understand why Thomas Harris would remain so private, perhaps this paragraph from 1999 novel ‘Hannibal’ may help –

“The exposition of Atrocious Torture Instruments could not fail to appeal to a connoisseur of the worst in mankind. But the essence of the worst, the true asafoetida of the human spirit, is not found in the Iron Maiden or the whetted edge; Elemental Ugliness is found in the faces of the crowd.”

Brain Raftery’s ‘Hannibal Lecter: a life’ is an extraordinary insight into an enormous talent, one who wrote crime fiction / pulp horror with literary flourish, making Harris’ six novels deeply thought provoking. It is curious [and mysterious] how such a gentle southern gentleman could author such excursions into the darkest edges of human nature? The incongruity between the author and his work is something that even Raftery fails to rationalise.

Harris’ life appears as mysterious as his most famous character, so when I reached the end of Hannibal Lecter: a Life, I put the book down and clapped until my palms were blood-red.

Bravo.

Editor’s Note: Brian Raftery indicates that there is only one Video Interview with Thomas Harris, which was recorded for the release of Cari Mora in 2019 and is archived HERE