I had always heard that this was a novel "about" heroin addiction, and as that made it sound like a boring social-issue novel, I gave it a pass. How delighted I was to realize that the novel in no way meets my expectations - it's better. This is not a social issue novel, but a good old late 1940s noir, set among the punks and low-lifes of Chicago's Polish district. Algren does a great job showing the energy and hopelessness of these cons who are always on the make. It's a bleak worldview, but conveyed with a great deal of humor. More Algren, please!