|
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Stuff, 8 Jun 2005
By A Customer
I reread this great collection of short stories at least three times in the past few months, and each time I rejoiced anew at how someone can turn such subject matter into a source of hilarity and joy. Runyon's inimitable and unique tongue-in-cheek, present-tense-only style and his deft, insightful characterisations make the plots a secondary consideration, but almost every tale is a good yarn in its own right. He creates a warm and wonderful world that never was, based on his very special version of the gangland, race-track and Broadway scene in New York in Prohibition days. Everyone is pursuing some nefarious - or downright criminal - objective of the moment. His gangsters and bootleggers are prominent and upstanding citizens who almost to a man are highly principled and soft-hearted - at least until they become annoyed, and some of them are very easy indeed to annoy at all times. His racetrack touts and gamblers seldom hit the big-time, and when they do so they invariably lose the lot on a sure thing that is agreed by one and all to be an investment opportunity they'd have to be out of their minds to pass up. His showgirls all have names starting (very respectfully) with Miss, and while some of them are undoubtably no better than they ought to be Runyon would be the very last to say so in anything but the most roundabout and tactful (but nevertheless unambiguous) of ways. In fact he's everybody's friend, and constantly available in Mindy's restuarant on Broadway (well around five am anyway) to act as everyone's confidant. I fail to understand how Runyon's work every fell out of fashion. I know from experience it would be folly to loan anyone this book, because it's likely to be loaned onwards repeatedly until there's no hope of seeing it again. Rush out and buy it!
|
by Damon Runyan
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home