Rating: 5/5
Review:
Comic genius
This is a decent selection of twenty of Runyon's Broadway
stories and would serve as a good introduction to one of the truly great comic
writers of the 20th Century.
I first read some Runyon about 35 years ago and after a page
or two of him was completely hooked.
It's a joy throughout with very neatly constructed short stories,
memorable characters and, above all, writing which can make me laugh out loud
just through its style. If you need a
sample of Runyon's wonderful, utterly distinctive prose, try this paragraph
from the classic The Brain Goes Home:
"I once read a story about a guy by the name of King
Solomon who lives a long time ago and who has a thousand dolls all at once,
which is going in for dolls on a very large scale indeed, but I guarantee that
all of King Solomon's dolls put together are not as expensive as any one of The
Brain's dolls. The overhead on Doris Clare alone will drive an ordinary guy
daffy, and Doris is practically frugal compared to
Cynthia Harris and Bobby Baker."
Damon Runyon has been one of the joys of my life and, if you
haven't already, I would urge you to try him.
For a much fuller selection, my advice is to get hold of a copy of the
Picador paperback, On Broadway. It's out
of print (scandalously, in my view) but used copies are still readily
available. Failing that, you won’t be
disappointed with the little gems in this Penguin selection. Very warmly recommended.
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