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Serenade (Crime Masterworks) (Paperback)

by James M. Cain (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)


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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Serenade is the story of the eternal triangle - with a difference. John Howard Sharp is an American opera singer down on his luck, having just bombed in Rigoletto in Mexico City when he first encounters the beautiful Mexican-Indian prostitute called Juana. Miraculously, she offers him the chance to rebuild his career in Hollywood and New York but then Winston Hawes, the young, rich and well-connected conductor who had first launched Sharp, comes back into his life with terrible consequences.

About the Author
James M. Cain was born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1892. Having served in the US Army in World War 1, he became a journalist in Baltimore and New York in the 1920's. He later worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood. Cain died in 1977

Product Details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Orion (March 17, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0752861751
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752861753
  • Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,199,109 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Serenade (Crime Masterworks)
68% buy the item featured on this page:
Serenade (Crime Masterworks) 4.0 out of 5 stars (7)
Three by Cain: Serenade, Love's Lovely Counterfeit, The Butterfly
32% buy
Three by Cain: Serenade, Love's Lovely Counterfeit, The Butterfly 3.7 out of 5 stars (3)

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars HARD EDGED BUT EXCELLENT LOVE STORY, January 22, 1998
This review is from: Serenade (Mass Market Paperback)
One of the greatest love stories ever written, in my mind. Full of aggression, cynicism, pace but also of passion. His picture of pre-War Mexico is magical, if somewhat seedy. It is a tragedy that it is out of print - the Postman Always Rings Twice shadowed this more sophisticated, but just as readable novel, due to the Film.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Personal Favorite, November 29, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Serenade (Hardcover)
If not in the top 10, certainly among the top 100 best books I have ever read. Absolutely stunning images, an entirely unique plot, and a whole new meaning to the song "Cielito lindo."

"Postman" was OK, but I think "Serenade" was Cain's masterpiece. It compares favorably with Charles Willeford's "The Way We Die Now", which is high praise indeed.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of Cain's Best-- Completely Unclassifiable, December 19, 2005
By Chris Ward (Costa Rica) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Everyone should read three James M. Cains: "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Double Indemnity," and "Serenade." His writing reached its peak with these three. The first two are hard-boiled and terse and nasty, and they move like bullets to their sordid ends. But "Serenade" is almost lyrically operatic, in keeping with the soap opera that is the protagonist's love life. This tremendously forward-looking and unpredictable (and brief and economical) book melds a number of Cain's loves into a tapestry of nearly ludicrous proportions. Read it! You won't be disappointed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars a very strange, ..and not very good..., effort by James M. Cain
'Serenade' is one of the oddest books I've read, and unfortunately it is not among the author's better efforts. Read more
Published 8 days ago by lazza

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice descriptive writing, but dated and awkward
I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book, although the racist epitaphs and negative descriptions of Mexicans and other foreigners were turning me off. Read more
Published 20 months ago by chester

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragically Good
Taken in parts or out of the context of when it was written, this book could offend some sensibilities. Read more
Published on November 10, 2003 by Damian P. Gadal

3.0 out of 5 stars The Tale of the Tough Guy Tenor
Compared to his earlier and much better The Postman Always Rings Twice, which tells a story as taut and inevitable as a Greek tragedy, James M. Read more
Published on July 12, 2002 by bashevis

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