Pal Joey
by John O'Hara
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Description
For its 75th anniversary and Frank Sinatra's centennial: the Jazz Age masterpiece that inspired the iconic Sinatra film and the hit Broadway musical, and featuring the musical's libretto and lyrics, On the seedy side of Chicago, nightlife in the 1930s, Joey Evans is a poor man's Bing Crosby, a big-talking, small-time nightclub crooner down on his luck but always on the make. In slangy, error-littered letters signed "Pal Joey," he recounts his exploits with brash nightclub managers, shady show more business partners, and every pretty girl "mouse" he meets. Charismatic yet conniving, Pal Joey is a smooth operator whose bravado and big ideas disguise a far less self-assured soul, caught up in the rags-to-riches dream of the Jazz Age. Originally serialized in The New Yorker and the inspiration for the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical of the same name and the 1957 film starring Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, and Rita Hayworth, Pal Joey is the story of a true "heel," as complex and memorable as any antihero in American literature. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Odd little book, a-la 'Color Purple'......the entire book is a series of letters from a lower-tier crooner in the 1930's and 40's struggling to keep his head above water in night clubs to a very successful band leader telling of his escapades and constantly trying to convince that all is well and justify his existence, when in fact, he's just a bit of a schmuck with very little hope of success. Very cleverly done in that the letters are remarkably revealing as to Joey's character. I did find it a little tedious in the some of the story lines which were pointless....but i think that was the point. Poor Ted, the recipient of these letters, probably had to just roll his eyes and sigh like i did through some of them. Neat little exercise show more revealing quite clearly one of the more pathetic amongst us, but i was not wowed. show less
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Author Information
John Henry O'Hara was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania on January 31, 1905. Many of his novels and short stories were set in fictionally named Pennsylvania towns with the main themes centering on class conflict and status. He began writing for the New Yorker in 1928; and during his life, sold 225 stories to the magazine. His first collection, The show more Doctor's Son and Other Stories (1935) was followed by twelve more. Pal Joey (1940) was made into a Broadway musical by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and later was adapted into a film starring Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth. Some of his published novels include Appointment in Samarra (1934), A Rage to Live (1949), The Lockwood Concern (1965), and The Good Samaritan and Other Stories (published posthumously in 1974). Ten North Frederick (1955) won the National Book Award and Butterfield 8 (1935) and From the Terrace (1958) were adapted into movies in 1960. He died from cardiovascular disease on April 11, 1970. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Dell 10-Cent Books (24)
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Has the adaptation
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Pal Joey
- Original title
- Pal Joey
- Original publication date
- 1939; 1940
- People/Characters
- Joey Evans
- Important places
- Chicago, Illinois, USA; Illinois, USA
- Related movies
- Pal Joey (1957 | IMDb)
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- This is the novel version, don't combine with the musical version.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 103
- Popularity
- 313,729
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.21)
- Languages
- English, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 11
