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Comment: Minor wear to cover, with flat crease on back. Small spots on one page. Otherwise great shape: spine uncreased; binding tight and square; pages clean, bright, and unmarked.

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Shoot the Piano Player Paperback – October 3, 1990

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David Goodis (Author)
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4.6 out of 5 stars 32 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 168 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard; Reissue edition (October 3, 1990)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0679732543
  • ISBN-13: 978-0679732549
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsYou Can't Escape Fate
By Westley VINE VOICE on March 13, 2004
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
"Shoot the Piano Player" is quintessential American crime noir. The protagonist is Eddie, a piano player in a sleazy Philadelphia bar. He comes from a family of criminals but managed to escape that life. At one time, he was a promising classic pianist, but then he fell from grace. Now, Eddie's brother Turley literally stumbles back into his life, bringing chaos and uncertainty. At the same time, Eddie begins to tentatively woo a waitress at work. The plot is full of twists, although it's a bit of a mess at times.
The novel was originally released in 1956 as "Down There," which appropriately reflects the dilemma Eddie faces. Specifically, the book focuses heavily on fate, which seems to be dictating that Eddie return to "down there" from whence he came. The book's name was changed subsequently to reflect the classic 1960 movie it inspired - "Shoot the Piano Player," directed by French auteur Francois Truffaut. As with Truffaut's movie, the book's plot is secondary to character and ambience. Instead, Goodis reflects on small moments, such as Eddie's exhilaration at standing close to the waitress in an alley as they hide from gangsters. Indeed, the characters are well-delineated, and I found myself truly caring about them.
If you like Raymond Chadler, Jim Thomson or similar crime noir writers, then you'll probably enjoy this novel. Goodis is a skillful pulp writer. Unfortunately, most of his books have gone out of print - make sure you get this one while it's still available.
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5.0 out of 5 starsabsolutely enjoyable
By frumiousb VINE VOICE on May 13, 2005
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
For years I have avoided reading Shoot the Piano Player because the film by Truffaut is one of my favorites. It hardly seemed fair to the book to try and read it when I liked the film so very much.

It was a mistake to have waited.

Shoot the Piano Player is a subtle and hard-hitting novel that goes beyond many of the expectations of a Noir thriller. The writing is subtle and moody, with moments of aggression and connection that flash like heat lightning.

Eddie does not need any trouble in his life. By the time trouble catches up to him at Harriet's Hut he is already a beaten man. Disengaged and detached, a single act of involvement carries him over the line and back into life. This is a dark and poor Philadelphia where the past catches up to a person and where nothing and nobody are what they seem.

Recommended for fans of Noir fiction and films. Truffaut fans should not worry about being disappointed. Even if you aren't yet a noir fan, this is an excellent book for anybody with a taste for smart and well-written literature.
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5.0 out of 5 starsMoving and Poignant
By Untouchable on August 11, 2003
Format: Paperback
Dark and melancholic? Yes. Oozing with despair? Yes. But also a wonderfully plotted and characterised story that poignantly displays a man who has done the best he could with the lot he was given.
Eddie is a bar-room piano player at Harriet's Hut where he has quietly and unobtrusively played for 3 years. One night his criminal brother staggers into the bar, desperate for Eddie's help. He is being chased by a couple of gangster-types and unwillingly, Eddie is drawn into the chase.
From that point on, we begin to learn all about this quiet and unassuming man. We soon realise that there is a lot more to him than is first realised and, having endeared him to us, we are snapped back to the present and the trouble that is visited upon him be his brother.
There's plenty to like about the story's characters too: from the tough, overweight broad who owns the bar, to her common-law husband, an ex-wrestler who works as the bar's bouncer, and the femme fatale, a brazen waitress who plays a wonderful counterpoint to the introspective Eddie.
There really is nothing left to say than to highly recommend this book as a special example of noir fiction. It's certainly well worth reading.
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5.0 out of 5 starsAWW, SHOOT!
By Shadow Woman on August 10, 2000
Format: Paperback
This was my first Goodis book, and it absolutely blew me away. If this is any indicator of what to expect from the man, I'm in love. In this noir novel, things get messed up, then get even messier, and messier still, until it's just one big mess and Eddie has got to keep hiding and runnning and fighting for survival. And the unbearable nature of it all wakes Eddie up out of the complacency of his life. That's what this book is about. Not to mention that Goodis' writing is like reading hard-boiled poetry. The words flow together beautifully and have an air of mystery and profundity about them. The last two pages alone will stay with me forever as a fond memory. Like a previous reveiwer, _ Of Human Bondage_ is my favourite book-- and still is, but now it shares 1st place with _Shoot The Piano Player_.
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5.0 out of 5 starsDavid Goodis and his desperate, dark and dangerous world
By Amazon Customer on September 20, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This gritty, hard-boiled novel by David Goodis opens with an action scene where a bloody-faced Turley Linn is running for his life through the alleys of a Philadelphia slum, fleeing from two professional hit-men. Turley ducks into a run-down neighborhood bar called Harriet's Hut and finds his brother Eddie (the novel's main character) who he hasn't seen in over six years. Eddie acknowledges his brother but remains cool and doesn't stop playing his sweet honky-tonk music on the joint's piano. Indeed, remaining cool, detached and emotionally uninvolved is the key note (no pun intended) of Eddie's thread-bare, solitary life.

In the first few pages we also come to know there is another side to cool Eddie, that is, some years ago Edward Webster Lynn, a concert pianist trained at the Curtis Institute, toured Europe and performed at Carnegie Hall, captivating and mesmerizing audiences with musical talent bordering on genius. Then why, we may ask, is one of the world's greatest pianists tickling the eighty-eight at a rundown bar? It isn't until midway through the novel that we are given Eddie's backstory. Turns out, Edward was once deeply in love and married to a beautiful Puerto Rican woman named Teresa. One evening at a mid-town Manhattan party, Teresa confesses to Edward she had an affair with his high-class concert manager. Then, as soon as Edward stomps out of the room, completely unhinged, seeing herself as unclean trash, Teresa jumps out a window.

Thus, we are given yet again another side of Eddie the piano player, the cool guy with his soft-easy smile, when, after the funeral, Edward goes ballistic. Late at night in Hell's Kitchen NYC, he gets himself mugged, robbed and beaten up, enjoying every minute of the violence.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsDavid Goodis is one of the great noir writers

David Goodis is one of the great noir writers. The bleak world occupied by the piano player and his cohorts is painfully vivid and unforgettable. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Mil
4.0 out of 5 starsRecommended

Had heard of the film,so wanted to read the book.Took me a while to get started,but it's really a good story.

Published 12 months ago by Ellen
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

great

Published 19 months ago by EILEEN PLUNK
5.0 out of 5 starsIf you love noir, this is the book for you

This is an excellent book in the great noir tradition. Eddie the piano player has bottomed out, playing in a ramshackle bar for the lowest strata of society. Read more

Published 23 months ago by Ty Wilson
5.0 out of 5 starsDeep noir, very moralistic and introspective look into one character's...

I'm so glad this book was brought to my attention. I thoroughly enjoyed Shoot the Piano Player. This is an exceptional reading experience, one that will leave you thinking and... Read more

Published 23 months ago by fra7299
2.0 out of 5 starsGeneric noir

Noir is one of the most well-defined genres in all literature. However, for better or worse, after writers like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett popularised the genre, it... Read more

Published on March 10, 2014 by Sam Quixote
4.0 out of 5 starsA first-rate noir story, with a backstory that should have been left...

SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER has all the noir characteristics in spades. So why only four stars? Because of the utter implausibility of the backstory. Read more

Published on April 1, 2013 by R. M. Peterson
5.0 out of 5 starsInstinctive action

This was the first Goodis I've read and I intend to read more of his work. I loved this book for the simplicity and depth of its protagonist, Eddie, and its intense, fast paced... Read more

Published on March 4, 2013 by Richard Bon
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful

I have enjoyed every work I've ever read by David Goodis. He had such an ear for the street and an understanding of how difficult it was to advance one's class in mid-20th Century... Read more

Published on February 24, 2013 by J. Smallridge
5.0 out of 5 starsDraw Into the Web

Bit by bit David Goodis draws you into Eddie's bleak world. Sometimes it is floating, semiconsciousness, sometimes it's the pain of the past, sometimes it's the cold, hard reality. Read more

Published on February 21, 2013 by M. Meszaros

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