false <![CDATA[The Man with the Golden Arm]]> 383022 17 Frankie Machine reckons he's a tough guy in the Chicago underworld, dealing cards in a backstreet gambling den and hustling two-bit scams to pay for a heroin addiction he wants to kick but can't. He convinces himself that playing "the tubs" is the only way out of he poverty and addiction that is consuming him. Around him revolve the lives of Sophie, his crippled nagging wife; Molly, the saloon-bar stripper who loves him and tries to keep him free from the cops and his drug habit; Nifty Louie, Frankie's neighbourhood dealer; and Sparrow the punk, unreformable petty theif and Frankie's closest friend. With consummate skill Algren lays bare the tragedy and humour of Frankie's world, the people on both sides of the law who are trapped in poverty, frustration and despair. Algren's sympathetic portrait of people living in the Chicago slums is one of the classics of modern literature and was the first-ever winner of the National Book Award. 826056 book 1949 The Man with the Golden Arm total:388|5:161|4:120|3:84|2:19|1:4| 388 1579 729 52 5 1 false false Mon Jan 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Aug 05 16:37:52 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 26 14:51:20 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 09:14:50 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 08:35:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Aug 30 18:05:45 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 18:12:11 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Aug 24 23:35:53 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 11:29:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 12:19:41 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 12:38:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun Oct 25 22:14:03 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 22:14:20 -0700 2009 I was put on to this one via The Abnormal Personality through Literature, which excerpted this for their addiction chapter. The excerpt was very haunting, in its portrayal of the addict’s utter surrender and the pusher’s sadistic thrill.

I was mildly disappointed, because the e...more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Oct 13 12:22:49 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 04:48:29 -0700 2009
Undo...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 21:42:51 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 10:13:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Apr 14 10:43:16 -0700 2007 Sat Feb 21 10:07:22 -0800 2009
Or better yet, read my review of the movie!

The Man with the Golden Arm (the movie) is a decent career vehicle for Frank Sinatra, but fails abysmally as a good adaptation of a fantastic book. You always hear about how books are "changed" w...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 07:48:25 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 21:04:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 1999 Sun Dec 02 12:23:26 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 15 18:11:33 -0800 2009 This suggests that Algren was overcome by his own creation, and I suppose tha...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sun Sep 09 13:43:21 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 14:55:49 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 19 09:11:51 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 09:15:05 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 03 10:27:30 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 03 10:32:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 19:29:36 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 15:57:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 11:11:41 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 12:22:07 -0700 2008 the post-WWII era. I like to think of the characters from this
book robbing the condo-dwelling, stroller-pushing breeders who live there now blind.

This took some time to dig into, but once I finished the first...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jun 30 17:32:11 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 17:36:28 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 29 19:56:45 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 19:58:26 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Mar 04 06:50:52 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 06:52:51 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jan 22 16:26:13 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 18:10:51 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=383022