- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Prion Books Ltd; New Ed edition (10 Feb 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1853753084
- ISBN-13: 978-1853753084
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 681,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Synopsis
Eddie plays to forget. Haunted by his past, he hides from life playing nightly in a skid row drinking joint - a world of hookers, lowlifes and petty crooks. A hopeless ghost of a man who has ceased caring about himself, he saves his loyalty for others which eventually drags him down.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Loyalty has a price. Whether that loyalty be deserved or undeserved.
'Shoot the Piano Player' is a helterskelter dive through Philadelphia's underbelly and is hell bent on reaching the bottom with the breathless speed of Alex Garland coupled with the sad irony of Raymond Chandler.
Eddie is a down at heel piano player in a down market bar in down town Philadelphia. He plays piano to forget his past, to forget about his criminal family, his marriage and his shattered career and illusions of becoming one of the worlds greatest classical pianists.
He plays and he forgets all. He is Eddie, the carefree and non commital piano player alway skirting around the edges of life but never entering. That is, until his brother, on the run from gangsters, crashlands onto the scene, shattering the fragile bubble and forcing Eddie to remember what he would rather forget.
Eddies brother means trouble but his arrival also signals a change and Eddie begins to re emerge into the world again. A dangerous world where people feel and have emotions. He attracts the attentions of a young streetwise waitress from the bar and against his better judgement and battling with his fears, he begins to fall in love.
On the run from his family, gangsters and the possiblity of caring for someone, Eddie is faced with an ultimate choice between loyalty to his family and the possibility of his own future happiness.
Shoot the Piano Player is a fast novel. The action takes place over a couple of days with events spirally faster and faster towards its terrible conclusion.
I couldn't put it down and afterwards was haunted for days.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Shoot the Piano Player" is quintessential American crime noir. The protagonist is Eddie, a piano player in a sleazy Philadelphia bar. He comes from a family of criminals but managed to escape that life. At one time, he was a promising classic pianist, but then he fell from grace. Now, Eddie's brother Turley literally stumbles back into his life, bringing chaos and uncertainty. At the same time, Eddie begins to tentatively woo a waitress at work. The plot is full of twists, although it's a bit of a mess at times.
The novel was originally released in 1956 as "Down There," which appropriately reflects the dilemma Eddie faces. Specifically, the book focuses heavily on fate, which seems to be dictating that Eddie return to "down there" from whence he came. The book's name was changed subsequently to reflect the classic 1960 movie it inspired - "Shoot the Piano Player," directed by French auteur Francois Truffaut. As with Truffaut's movie, the book's plot is secondary to character and ambience. Instead, Goodis reflects on small moments, such as Eddie's exhilaration at standing close to the waitress in an alley as they hide from gangsters. Indeed, the characters are well-delineated, and I found myself truly caring about them.
If you like Raymond Chadler, Jim Thomson or similar crime noir writers, then you'll probably enjoy this novel. Goodis is a skillful pulp writer. Unfortunately, most of his books have gone out of print - make sure you get this one while it's still available.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
19 reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
You Can't Escape Fate
13 Mar 2004
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Shoot the Piano Player" is quintessential American crime noir. The protagonist is Eddie, a piano player in a sleazy Philadelphia bar. He comes from a family of criminals but managed to escape that life. At one time, he was a promising classic pianist, but then he fell from grace. Now, Eddie's brother Turley literally stumbles back into his life, bringing chaos and uncertainty. At the same time, Eddie begins to tentatively woo a waitress at work. The plot is full of twists, although it's a bit of a mess at times.
The novel was originally released in 1956 as "Down There," which appropriately reflects the dilemma Eddie faces. Specifically, the book focuses heavily on fate, which seems to be dictating that Eddie return to "down there" from whence he came. The book's name was changed subsequently to reflect the classic 1960 movie it inspired - "Shoot the Piano Player," directed by French auteur Francois Truffaut. As with Truffaut's movie, the book's plot is secondary to character and ambience. Instead, Goodis reflects on small moments, such as Eddie's exhilaration at standing close to the waitress in an alley as they hide from gangsters. Indeed, the characters are well-delineated, and I found myself truly caring about them.
If you like Raymond Chadler, Jim Thomson or similar crime noir writers, then you'll probably enjoy this novel. Goodis is a skillful pulp writer. Unfortunately, most of his books have gone out of print - make sure you get this one while it's still available.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
absolutely enjoyable
13 May 2005
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
For years I have avoided reading Shoot the Piano Player because the film by Truffaut is one of my favorites. It hardly seemed fair to the book to try and read it when I liked the film so very much.
It was a mistake to have waited.
Shoot the Piano Player is a subtle and hard-hitting novel that goes beyond many of the expectations of a Noir thriller. The writing is subtle and moody, with moments of aggression and connection that flash like heat lightning.
Eddie does not need any trouble in his life. By the time trouble catches up to him at Harriet's Hut he is already a beaten man. Disengaged and detached, a single act of involvement carries him over the line and back into life. This is a dark and poor Philadelphia where the past catches up to a person and where nothing and nobody are what they seem.
Recommended for fans of Noir fiction and films. Truffaut fans should not worry about being disappointed. Even if you aren't yet a noir fan, this is an excellent book for anybody with a taste for smart and well-written literature.
It was a mistake to have waited.
Shoot the Piano Player is a subtle and hard-hitting novel that goes beyond many of the expectations of a Noir thriller. The writing is subtle and moody, with moments of aggression and connection that flash like heat lightning.
Eddie does not need any trouble in his life. By the time trouble catches up to him at Harriet's Hut he is already a beaten man. Disengaged and detached, a single act of involvement carries him over the line and back into life. This is a dark and poor Philadelphia where the past catches up to a person and where nothing and nobody are what they seem.
Recommended for fans of Noir fiction and films. Truffaut fans should not worry about being disappointed. Even if you aren't yet a noir fan, this is an excellent book for anybody with a taste for smart and well-written literature.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Moving and Poignant
12 Aug 2003
Format:Paperback
Dark and melancholic? Yes. Oozing with despair? Yes. But also a wonderfully plotted and characterised story that poignantly displays a man who has done the best he could with the lot he was given.
Eddie is a bar-room piano player at Harriet's Hut where he has quietly and unobtrusively played for 3 years. One night his criminal brother staggers into the bar, desperate for Eddie's help. He is being chased by a couple of gangster-types and unwillingly, Eddie is drawn into the chase.
From that point on, we begin to learn all about this quiet and unassuming man. We soon realise that there is a lot more to him than is first realised and, having endeared him to us, we are snapped back to the present and the trouble that is visited upon him be his brother.
There's plenty to like about the story's characters too: from the tough, overweight broad who owns the bar, to her common-law husband, an ex-wrestler who works as the bar's bouncer, and the femme fatale, a brazen waitress who plays a wonderful counterpoint to the introspective Eddie.
There really is nothing left to say than to highly recommend this book as a special example of noir fiction. It's certainly well worth reading.
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