- Paperback: 464 pages
- Publisher: Random House USA Inc; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition (31 Dec 1989)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679723234
- ISBN-13: 978-0679723233
- Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 2.5 x 20.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 762,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
All three books are written with an enduring view of the dark corners of the American psyche. Cain hammered high art out of the crude matter of betrayal, bloodshed, and perversity.
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6 reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Great hard-boiled writing
19 Feb 2009
Format:Paperback
If you're a fan of Cain's prose these three short novels will satisfy. These are quite different from his more famous noir novels(Postman; Double Indemnity) but they still contain his unique brand of hard-boiled writing: minimalist sentences, crisp dialogue, and spare, economical description.
Serenade deals with an American opera singer (Cain trained as an opera singer before turning to journalism) who falls for a Mexican prostitute and brings her illegally back into the states where he begins a meteoric rise to fame, until something goes horribly wrong.
Love's Lovely Counterfeit is a tale of small town crime. A solid thriller.
The final novel, The Butterfly, is the most unique as it deals with the subject of incest in a West Virginia coal mining town. A nineteen year old girl shows up at a man's farm claiming to be his daughter, and takes things a little far with her sexual teasing. The plot takes several turns in its slim 90 pages, but I've never read another book quite like The Butterfly. The subject matter lends itself to Cain's spare, objective prose, because you need some distance from a topic like incest, and Cain hadles it well.
The book also contains a short preface to The Butterfly, where the author talks a bit about his biography and his approach to writing.
All three books are a solid 'B' grade, and fans of Cain, especially his writing style, should seek this book out.
Serenade deals with an American opera singer (Cain trained as an opera singer before turning to journalism) who falls for a Mexican prostitute and brings her illegally back into the states where he begins a meteoric rise to fame, until something goes horribly wrong.
Love's Lovely Counterfeit is a tale of small town crime. A solid thriller.
The final novel, The Butterfly, is the most unique as it deals with the subject of incest in a West Virginia coal mining town. A nineteen year old girl shows up at a man's farm claiming to be his daughter, and takes things a little far with her sexual teasing. The plot takes several turns in its slim 90 pages, but I've never read another book quite like The Butterfly. The subject matter lends itself to Cain's spare, objective prose, because you need some distance from a topic like incest, and Cain hadles it well.
The book also contains a short preface to The Butterfly, where the author talks a bit about his biography and his approach to writing.
All three books are a solid 'B' grade, and fans of Cain, especially his writing style, should seek this book out.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Good stuff
12 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback
If you like Cain, after plowing through the big three - Postman, Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce - you should soon find your way to these classics. IMHO two of the three books here are just about first-rate. Serenade is terrific, and Butterfly is daring and powerful. Good stuff!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
James M Cain, Genius
9 Sep 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There is no such thing as a bad Cain book. One of my favorite authors and these stories are great stuff.
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