Dillinger in Hollywood: New and Selected Short Stories [Paperback]

John Sayles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2004 | Series: Nation Books

Before John Sayles was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and celebrated independent filmmaker, he was a National Book Award-nominated writer of fiction. Now John Sayles has written his first short story collection in twenty-five years. The keynote story—"Dillinger in Hollywood"—is populated by leftovers from the Golden Age of Hollywood who live in a nursing home catering for "below-the-line" talent—dancers, stunt doubles, horse wranglers, stand-ins, studio drivers—who now wait for death and dementia, playing cards, breaking hips, busting ribs, and telling tall tales of days gone by. During one hot summer, Casey, a long-term resident, confesses that he "used to be John Dillinger. In the flesh." The supposed John Dillinger, a legendary outlaw who had been popped at the Biograph Theater, was simply a "stand-in." Sayles's stories, like his movies, are panoramic in scope, weaving together disparate elements, where the past has a powerful claim on the present, where the characters are down on their luck, struggling to make ends meet. Ultimately, John Dillinger in Hollywood showcases Sayles's uncanny ear for language, his skill at crafting character, humor and atmosphere, and shows why he is the winner of the John Steinbeck Award, the O. Henry Award, and others.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though Sayles is best known as the writer/director of acclaimed independent films (Lone Star; Matewan), he's also an accomplished novelist (Union Dues; Los Gusanos). In this engaging collection, his first in 25 years, he reminds us of his skill in shorter forms. In the title story, Son Bishop, an ex-horse wrangler and stunt man, works at a nursing home populated by the relics of Hollywood's Golden Age, one of whom claims he "used to be" John Dillinger. "Your geriatrics and horses hold a lot in common," Bishop muses. "[T]hey're high-strung, they bite and kick sometimes, and they're none of them too big on bowel control." The more substantial and subtle "Casa de Los Babys" (the genesis of his eponymous movie?) follows a group of American women waiting to adopt babies in a Latin American city, as well as a maid at their crumbling hotel, a nurse at the orphanage and a young homeless boy who would like nothing better than to nab the women's wallets. "The Halfway Diner" finds a company of women riding a weekly bus to visit their husbands in jail and touchingly describes their esprit de corps ("The thing is," the narrator says, "we're all of us doing time"). Humor leavens the social conscience in many of these tales, and Sayles's exceptional dialogue is reason enough to appreciate this collection.
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From Booklist

Filmmaker Sayles, writer and director of The Brother from Another Planet , Passion Fish , and Silver City , among others, is also a highly imaginative short story writer with a sure ear for dialogue, a keen eye for group dynamics, a flair for quickly establishing intriguing mise-en-scenes, and the ability to animate a great spectrum of flinty characters. This alluring collection of 10 ambient tales written between 1980 and the present begins with the piquant title story. Set in a nursing home for working-class Hollywood veterans, it's a tale about glory days real and imagined, mortality, and succor. Caring for each other under difficult circumstances is a pivotal theme here, whether it takes the form of tending to abandoned babies or the camaraderie among women on a bus to visit their men in prison. Writing with as much artistry as conviction from the point of view of characters wholly unlike himself, Sayles expresses his compassion and concern for those who struggle with poverty and prejudice, seeking both to provoke and entertain. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Nation Books (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156025632X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560256328
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #986,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unpretentious Stories by the Noted Screenwriter, October 24, 2004

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dillinger in Hollywood: New and Selected Short Stories (Paperback)

John Sayles, better known as a screenwriter and filmmaker, has been quietly publishing short stories since the 1980's. In this collection, he has compiled ten stories written over the span of twenty-four years, the oldest of which lends its title to the book. Some of these stories focus on the lesser known side of the film industry, the world of bit actors and technical crews, while others explore such varied experiences as women whose men are incarcerated and midwives. Most of his stories are leisurely, almost novelistic in their unfolding, and a few approach the novella length. Sayles seems in no hurry to finish his tales, and will introduce key characters ten pages into them. The stories he treats this way have no urgency, no sharp spikes of conflict, and yet they are engrossing because of Sayles's superb ability to draw his characters and their situations. "Dillinger in Hollywood" is a humorous, bittersweet tale about a man in a show business nursing home who maintains that he used to be John Dillinger before he had staged his "murder" and took a job as a driver on a movie lot. Sayles occasionally breaks with his own traditions. One of the messiest and shortest stories is also one of the most effective. In "To the Light", Annie, a midwife, helps an illegal immigrant deliver a breech baby while remembering her first delivery, a boy who turned out to be a mass-murderer.

Not surprisingly, John Sayles knows how to tell a story, even if it turns out to be a shaggy dog tale. His unpretentious style is less visual than one would expect, and instead of giving the reader a sweeping scope, he focuses on quiet moments between characters. These largely traditional stories should appeal to a wide range of readers, from Sayles's film fans to readers of literary fiction.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 Short Stories Worth the Read, July 9, 2011

By 

Jim (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dillinger in Hollywood: New and Selected Short Stories (Paperback)

John Sayles defined himself as a writer before he started directing films. The stories here were written over a 20 year period then published in 2004 as a group. He won the O.Henry Award for the work...and deservedly so. He puts us in the midst of characters and lets them emerge through their group dialog and banter. I particularly enjoyed the way humor emerges among characters not trying to be funny. Sayles writes as an observer of diverse characters who bear witness to the subjects of each story.

The two stories about Hollywood characters I especially enjoyed. The first, Dillinger in Hollywood is set in a retirement home for industry performers and centers around a former stunt man who has repeatedly told fellow residents about all the stars and important directors with whom he worked. One day, in reaction his Parcheesi partner a former driver on the Fox lot tells everyone "I used to be Johnnie Dillinger. In the flesh." Then we learn how this could be. The second Hollywood story features a 30 year bit player ("I worked the silents, the other actors got the speaking roles") who finally gets his break with his first speaking role in a Western movie. His scenes, however, are ruined because the horses keep looking into the camera.

Another story puts us in a bus full of women on the way to see their men in prison and at the Halfway Diner at which they stop. There is one about the decades long search for a buried pirate's treasure. Then we find ourselves among the women peeling "mudbugs" in the backroom of a Louisiana restaurant. In Keeping Time a drummer sets up for a gig while the sweeper of the club regales him with his own experiences in music. To the Light is about midwives in a Central American country.

Another is set at a boat marina and still another in a lounge. In all his stories the characters are distinctive and entertaining.

Overall, this worth the read.