[I67]⇒ Download Gratis Nightmare Alley New York Review Books Classics William Lindsay Gresham Nick Tosches Books

Nightmare Alley New York Review Books Classics William Lindsay Gresham Nick Tosches Books

Download As PDF : Nightmare Alley New York Review Books Classics William Lindsay Gresham Nick Tosches Books

Nightmare Alley New York Review Books Classics William Lindsay Gresham Nick Tosches Books

Ever want to study the con? Heres a nice book to show you how. The novel tracks the progress of stan as he grows from a young boy dreams of wealth to a con artist always on the hunt for the ultimate trick. Along the way, there are carny freaks and geeks and rich men with desperations of thejr own to sate.

Stan isnt the only trickster, he learns his con from a fortune teller, partners up with a naive young woman, but ultimately is fooled most of all. Recurring themes of freudian analysis, parental trauma, alcoholismand the recurring tarot decks. Stan is haunted by a nightmare, the titular alley. Its bleakness is entropic, and as the central image of the novel it truly encapsulates the atmosphere.

I picked up this book hoping to delve deeper into my study of noir literature, hoping to pick up a classic of the genre. I like carnivals and i like con artists, felt like this was a great match. It didn't dissapoint, at least not conceptually. The middle was a bit of a slog, but the ending comes back around ties the noose around the main characters neck with a surprising con.

Ultimately, i really liked the novel. Iwould have liked a bit more depth to my character, and perhaps more insight into Molly's state of mind at the end.


Tags : Amazon.com: Nightmare Alley (New York Review Books Classics) (9781590173480): William Lindsay Gresham, Nick Tosches: Books,William Lindsay Gresham, Nick Tosches,Nightmare Alley (New York Review Books Classics),NYRB Classics,1590173481,FIC050000,Crime,Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled,Circus performers,Circus performers;Fiction.,Mediums,Mediums;Fiction.,Swindlers and swindling,Swindlers and swindling;Fiction.,AMERICAN MYSTERY & SUSPENSE FICTION,FICTION Crime,FICTION Mystery & Detective Hard-Boiled,FICTION Noir,FICTION Psychological,FICTION Thrillers Suspense,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Mystery & Detective,GENERAL,General Adult,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),United States,crime;noir;crime fiction;thriller;thrillers;thriller books;suspense;suspense books;crime books;betrayal;fiction;novels;fiction books;mysteries and thrillers;books fiction;suspense thriller books;crime novels;mystery thriller suspense;fiction psychological;mystery and thriller;suspense fiction;collusion;mystery;hard case crime;horror;short stories;classic;detective;american literature;hollywood;pulp fiction;mystery books;film;mystery and thrillers;anthology;mystery and suspense;literary criticism,noir; crime; thrillers; crime fiction; crime books; hard boiled; thriller; american literature; hollywood; suspense; 20th century; literary fiction; murder; literary; detective; pulp fiction; hard case crime; thriller books; mystery thriller suspense; fiction; fiction books; mysteries and thrillers; suspense thriller books; suspense fiction; mystery and thriller; fiction psychological; mystery; classic; short stories; pulp; film; anthology; harlem; crime thriller; dark; prison; anthologies; americana; historical; literary criticism

Nightmare Alley New York Review Books Classics William Lindsay Gresham Nick Tosches Books Reviews

"Ever since he was a kid Stan had had the dream. He was running down a dark alley, the buildings vacant and black and menacing on either side. Far down at the end of it a light burned; but there was something behind him, close behind him, getting closer until he woke up trembling and never reached the light."

That something is fear, and Stan Carlisle knows how to avoid it, and how to sell it back to prospective buyers. As a con man, Stan wears many hats Stan Carlisle. The Great Stanton. Reverend Carlisle. Cashing in is the name of Stan's game, and his world of deception and dishonesty, he is the ultimate shyster. There's an aura of fatalism that resides over Stan Carlisle, seemingly propelling him toward either success or doom at any given moment. However, he meets his match in an unlikely femme fatale, Dr. Lilith Ritter.

Nightmare Alley is such a unique and different take on the noir genre. Grotesque, dark and bizarre, it opens at a county fair with locals about to witness the "geek show." Stan, an ambitious employee for the carny, is both captivated and repulsed by the lowly depths of the alcoholic geek. He wonders how one could get to such an awful state. Impressed with the Zeena the mentalist's act, and how she can dupe the crowd, Stan becomes resolved to take up his own act. With Molly, one of the performers, along Stan soon becomes immersed in the world of mentalist acts, psychic readings and spiritualism, looking to gain dough and sell hopes.

With effective atmosphere and exceptional prose, Gresham pushes us into the world of the carny, tarot readings, mentalism, deception, set ups, secret codes, phonies and fakes. There's even some Freudian analysis to boot. Despite its bleakness, and despite one of the more ruthless protagonists you'll ever encounter, Nightmare Alley is fascinating and hard to put down, and definitely a treat for noir fans.

This edition of the novel has a fascinating introduction by Nick Tosches that gives quite a bit of background for the story as well as the author. Reportedly Gresham found inspiration for the novel while drinking with a companion who told him a bizarre tale about a "geek", an alcoholic who would work and perform bizarre acts at a carnival for booze. Gresham said the story "haunted him" and so, he wanted to tell the story and thus "get rid" of this memory.

There's also a fantastic film from 1947 with a very George Clooney-esque Tyrone Power playing Stan Carlisle. The film, while much tamer than the novel, still is quite amazing and worth checking out
I found this book very interesting - even though I cannot say it's enjoyable. Reading it was rather unpleasant, to put it mildly. Think Kafka's The Metamorphosis, with people depicted by Gresham being about as attractive as Kafka's insect. But yes, we have to admit, there are very unappetizing things in life, and Gresham is definitely able to describe them with great authenticity.

A number of things make this book interesting. First and foremost - it's the language. This book is written in American vernacular of the first half of XX century. Even though I was born much later, one can feel immediately it's the real thing, Gresham has keen ear and ability to put on paper the way people really talk. The book is full of colloquialisms, expressions used on the street by lowlife people, and people in a particular trade (most of the characters are in the show business, carnivals), as well as psychiatric terms (one of the characters is a psychiatrist). Words and expressions you won't find in print frequently, like gonif, ad-libbed (now they'd say winged), etc etc.

And it's not just the language the life itself is captured with lots of details, which makes this book very persuasive. It has a wide variety of characters, from "carny" crowd, vile psychiatrist, an industrialist, duped by "spiritualist" crooks, even one black communist, described, again, very vividly in one chapter. Everyone talks using their very own language policeman, morgue attendant (what a story!), lady psychiatrist...

The book describes in much detail how "mind readers" operate, from cheap town fair crooks "mitt readers" to high level "spiritualists", arranging fraudulent séances where people "meet" their deceased loved ones, cheating the victims of all their possessions.

Another side of the book which makes it worth reading is the chance to get a view of the - probably tortured - mind of the author himself. As we learn from the introduction, he was an alcoholic, also he was influenced by teachings of Sigmund Freud which were very much in vogue back then. There's a lot of sexuality in the book, if not very explicit - then at least very much suggested; the prose is dense with sexual longings, trauma and despair. Two main characters, Stan and Molly, both experienced exposure to sexual acts in their childhood, which Gresham describes as traumatic/defining event. Generally, in the nature/nurture dispute, Gresham is, clearly, very much on the nurture side. Life of his heroes is broken, author suggests, because of those childhood experiences. I wonder if Gresham himself suffered something similar as a child.

I'll repeat - this book is not pleasant, and I don't find it interesting philosophically, also the characters are rather one-dimensional. That's why I give it 4 stars. The story itself and the construction of this book is good, but main interest is in this being a history of society, language and the way of thinking of people in certain time and place. And this task is performed by the author with great mastery.

The introduction, written by Nick Tosches, is also very good and informative - if a bit too short. Gresham's life seems to be very interesting.
Ever want to study the con? Heres a nice book to show you how. The novel tracks the progress of stan as he grows from a young boy dreams of wealth to a con artist always on the hunt for the ultimate trick. Along the way, there are carny freaks and geeks and rich men with desperations of thejr own to sate.

Stan isnt the only trickster, he learns his con from a fortune teller, partners up with a naive young woman, but ultimately is fooled most of all. Recurring themes of freudian analysis, parental trauma, alcoholismand the recurring tarot decks. Stan is haunted by a nightmare, the titular alley. Its bleakness is entropic, and as the central image of the novel it truly encapsulates the atmosphere.

I picked up this book hoping to delve deeper into my study of noir literature, hoping to pick up a classic of the genre. I like carnivals and i like con artists, felt like this was a great match. It didn't dissapoint, at least not conceptually. The middle was a bit of a slog, but the ending comes back around ties the noose around the main characters neck with a surprising con.

Ultimately, i really liked the novel. Iwould have liked a bit more depth to my character, and perhaps more insight into Molly's state of mind at the end.