It's Always Four O'Clock / Iron Man [Paperback]

W. R. Burnett (introduction by David Laurence Wilson) (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 2009

IT'S ALWAYS FOUR O'CLOCK When Stan first meets Royal Mauch, he isn t impressed. He s digging the scene at the Treble Clef and Royal, this thin little guy two seats down, is so boiled he can t get his cigarette up to his mouth. But they start talking music, and Stan introduces him to Walt and Berte. And before you know it, with Royal s unique arrangements, they have a jazz combo. But Royal is no ordinary jazz pianist--this guy plays from somewhere out there. Stan and Walt have a hard enough time just keeping up with him, and Berte well, she s so in love with Walt, she s just happy to be the singer. And, man, some nights, they really soar! But it can t last. Because Berte is a woman with a mission, and Royal is a man with a past. IRON MAN Coke Mason is a tough fighter. He s got a great left hook, and he can take the punishment. His manager George Regan knows all his strengths and weaknesses hell, they ve known each other since they were kids--and uses them to his advantage to get Coke fired up before every fight. Coke is headed for the top. But he s got one weakness that Regan can t use Coke s love for Rose, his manipulative wife. Rose has Coke twisted around her finger so tight, Coke can t see straight. But that doesn t bother Coke. Whatever Rose wants is okay with him. Until suave hustler Paul Lewis enters the scene, with a proposition of his own.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Though Burnett helped change crime fiction with his first novel, Little Caesar (1929), and was famous as the writer of The Asphalt Jungle (1949) and the screenwriter of High Sierra (1941), he is not widely read today. Iron Man (1930), his second novel, tells the tale of dim-bulb boxer Coke Mason’s journey from happy contender to friendless middleweight champion. The arc will be predictable to modern readers, but it’s still full of great period detail and behind-the-scenes boxing dope. It’s Always Four o’Clock (1956), on the other hand, is a genuine find. (Interestingly, Burnett published it under a pen name, “James Updyke.”) Narrated by glib, digressive jazz guitarist Stan Pawley, it has a voice that jumps off the page—although it’s really the story of another character, mercurial musical genius Royal Mauch. Stan and Royal’s band becomes a nightclub success, but when their ladies’-man bass player becomes a solo star, Royal’s world crumbles. Masquerading as a hard-bop romp through nightclub L.A., it’s really a keen psychological portrait of the artist as a failed man. As always, this small publisher makes us wonder who else we’ve forgotten about. --Keir Graff

Review

[Burnett]'s graceful or fierce in all the right places, merciless or full of aching sympathy depending on what the moment calls for, and there's never a word out of place. --Cullen Gallagher, Pulp Serenade

His novels are not mysteries, but crime novels, powerful, accurate cynical explorations of criminals in their own environment: at their best they are important additions to the honor roll of hard-boiled fiction. --George Grella, 20th Century Crime & Mystery Writers

One of the most important American fiction writers of the twentieth century. --H. R. F. Keating

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Stark House Press; 1 edition (October 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933586249
• ISBN-13: 978-1933586243
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,039,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)