1940-
"There is no murder. We make murder, and it matters only to us."
Birthplace
Tennessee, US
Education
He attended university in Waco, Texas, working as a reporter while he studied for an English major.
Other jobs
Crime reporter in the US and Mexico
Did you know?
The first choices to play Lecter and Starling in Silence of the Lambs were Gene Hackman and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Critical verdict
Harris is now known as the creator of Hannibal, though his extensive research and allusive prose distinguish his plot-driven fiction. Lecter first appears in Red Dragon, a thriller also lifted above the norm by the sympathy the author shows its killer and the empathy the detective feels for his quarry. He became the real point of Silence of the Lambs, and on the release of its sequel Stephen King called the 10-years-in-the-writing Hannibal "one of the two most frightening popular books of our time, the other being The Exorcist". Some critics found it overhyped, overwritten and over-reliant on luxury shopping lists. Lecter is to an extent humanised by the childhood explication of his madness; pitted against corporate America - petty, tasteless, unintelligent and sexist - the ultimate baddie becomes the goody, and while suspense is maintained, disbelief is harder to suspend.
Recommended works
The Silence of the Lambs provides a consummate thrill.
Influences
Lecter is one of detective literature's evil geniuses, perhaps first and best captured in Conan Doyle's Dr Moriarty.
Now read on
Jonathan Sandford's Prey series, Jeff Deaver's highly forensic thrillers.
Adaptations
Black Sunday (1977) is fairly standard action-fare; Manhunter (1986) uses the killer's perspective to terrifying visual effect and introduces a low-key Lecter. Silence of the Lambs (dir Jonathan Demme, 1991) took five Oscars; Anthony Hopkins' brilliant portrayal of Lecter - based, he said, on 2001's computer Hal - contributed greatly to the Lecter myth which has led to so much hype over Hannibal. A decade on, the lushly operatic Hannibal (dir Ridley Scott) was faithful to the overblown spirit of the book - apart from a surprise ending. 2007's Hannibal Rising, though, was almost universally panned.
Useful links and work online
Work online
· Extract: Red Dragon
Background
· Official site