Who
let Lecter loose on an unsuspecting world?
The answer: Thomas Harris.
Instead
of giving an exhaustive breakdown here,
I have decided it's probably better to point
you toward two sites that will answer this
question. A few key excerpts from each shows,
I think, a good summary of "the man
behind Lecter" :)
"A
native of Mississippi, Thomas Harris began
his writing career covering crime in the
United States and Mexico, and was a reporter
and editor for the Associated Press in New
York City. His first novel, BLACK SUNDAY,
was published in 1975, followed by RED DRAGON
in 1981, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in 1988
and HANNIBAL in 1999."
"Like
the serial killers that terrorize people in
his novels Red Dragon and The Silence of the
Lambs, Thomas Harris is an enigma. Information
on his life is scarce and difficult to find,
and that seems to be the way that Harris,
author of three huge national bestsellers,
likes it, but as with those elusive serial
killers, a little information can be discovered
that leads to a greater picture of the man
as a whole. "
"...
Red Dragon, was not completed until six years
later in 1981. The novel tells the story of
an FBI agent's search for a serial killer.
More importantly, it introduced Harris' most
popular character to the world: psychiatrist
turned psychotic Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter,
a man with a unique idea about what a prime
cut of meat is."
Who
let Lecter loose on an unsuspecting world?
The answer: Thomas Harris.