Elsinore [Paperback]

Jerome Charyn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

Eager to find his girlfriend, Fay Abruzzi, who has been secreted away by her district attorney father, former hitman Sidney Holden agrees to come out of retirement and help millionaire Howard Phipps bring down the D.A. Reprint. PW.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sidney Holden, the well-known "bumper" (read: hit man) previously introduced in Paradise Man , makes his home in a world "where there are no rules." So he's immune to surprise when he is brought out of retirement by Howard Phipps, 92 years old and the acknowledged king of the underworld--and, in a former incarnation, possibly the world's greatest cantor. A serious leak threatens to sink Phipps's empire, but while Holden is attempting to locate and plug it, Phipps is busy launching elaborate schemes to destroy him. Thus Holden and Phipps become locked in a sort of danse macabre which variously includes the Queens (N.Y.) DA; Holden's mistress (the DA's depressive daughter-in-law) and his ex-partner; Phipps's ex-wife and his putative daughter; and an array of "business" associates. Elsinore, Hamlet's castle and here the name of a residence for the insane, aptly connotes the semifantastic atmosphere and inhabitants of this wacky but delightful story, just as Charyn's polished pacing fuels the exuberantly complicated plot.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jerome Charyn was born in the Bronx in 1937. He attended Columbia College and was a founding editor of the Dutton Review and the executive editor of Fiction. He has twenty-eight novels to his credit, including the Isaac Sidel Quartets. Charyn is a Guggenheim Fellow whose novel Darlin' Bill received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1996 he was named an Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. He lives in Paris and teaches film history and the aesthetics of crime fiction at the American University of Paris. His work has been published in twelve languages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Pr (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446401110
• ISBN-13: 978-0446401111
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,402,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in the mean streets of the Bronx and have remained a city wolf, dividing my time between New York City and Paris.

I grew up reading comic books and watching movies; you can see their influences in my books. I started writing novels at the age of eleven; Amazon carries 40+ titles, fiction and non-fiction.

For the past fourteen years I taught film at the American University of Paris.

I love Emily Dickinson's poems and William Faulkner's novels. I also love Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," which has the feel of a novel. (I wrote a book about Tarantino, "Raised by Wolves," after the film's release.)

My novel "The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson," published in 2010, inspired a community of more than 3500 Emily Dickinson Facebook fans dedicated to the poet's place in the 21st century.

"The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson" is now available in paperback in a reading group edition with online reading guide.

My most recent book, "Joe DiMaggio: The Long Vigil," was released on March 8, 2011, part of the Yale University Press series on American Icons. More than 1000 fans are already registered on its Facebook page.

I invite you to join me on Facebook for "The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson" or "Joe DiMaggio: The Long Vigil." Or visit my website: www.jeromecharyn.com