Beggars of Life: A Hobo Autobiography (NABAT) [FACSIMILE] (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A bestseller in 1924, this vivid piece of outlaw history has inexplicably faded from the public consciousness. Jim Tully takes us across the seamy underbelly of pre-WWI America on freight trains, and inside hobo jungles and brothels while narrowly averting railroad bulls (cops) and wardens of order.

Written with unflinching honesty and insight, Beggars of Life follows Tully from his first ride at age thirteen, choosing life on the road over a deadening job, through his teenage years of learning the ropes of the rails and -living one meal to the next.

Tully’s direct, confrontational approach helped shape the hard-boiled school of writing, and later immeasurably influenced the noir genre. Beggars of Life was the first in Tully’s five-volume memoir, dubbed the "Underworld Edition," recalling his transformation from road-kid to novelist, journalist, Hollywood columnist, chain maker, boxer, circus handyman, and tree surgeon.

Jim Tully (1891–1947) was a best-selling novelist and popular Hollywood journalist in the 1920s and ’30s. Known as "Cincinnati Red" during his years as a road-kid, he counted prizefighter and publicist of Charlie Chaplin among his many jobs. He is considered (with Dashiel Hammett) one of the inventors of the hard-boiled style of American writing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: AK Press; Facsimile edition edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1902593782
• ISBN-13: 978-1902593784
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #307,716 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forgotten Classic of the Hard-boiled Style Now Back in Print, May 14, 2004

By	Book Books "Book Books" - See all my reviews

In this account of his years on the road, Jim Tully achieved a perfect marriage of pared down prose and marginal subjects that launched his career as one of the best paid, most popular nonfiction writers in America at the time. With Beggars of Life it's not hard to see why Tully was so popular: this ostensibly simple story about hoboing both illuminates the early 20th century (entirely from the view of the reject and the freak and the "punkgrafter") and also manages to speak to the jaded, bored punks of today. It's a surprisingly wild read; race riots, deformities, violence, sex, drinking, cop-bashing, election-fixing, and corruption erupt throughout. But they are portrayed with such a simple elegance and detachment-- perhaps this is why it has fallen down one of the many memory holes our country reserves for dissenting work. The AK Press edition features a lively introduction by late pulp-legend Charles Willeford. As Willeford argues, Tully deserves to take his place beside Hemingway as a founder of the uniquely American, hard-boiled style of prose.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful, Quintessentially American Hobo Tale, March 13, 2003

By	Book Books "Book Books" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beggars Of Life (Library Binding)

In this account of his years on the road, Jim Tully achieved a perfect marriage of pared down prose and marginal subjects that launched his career as one of the best paid, most popular nonfiction writers in America at the time. With Beggars of Life it's not hard to see why Tully was so popular: this ostensibly simple story about hoboing both illuminates the early 20th century (entirely from the view of the reject and the freak and the "punkgrafter") and also manages to speak to the jaded, bored punks of today. It's a surprisingly wild read; race riots, deformities, violence, sex, drinking, cop-bashing, election-fixing, and corruption erupt throughout. But they are portrayed with such a simple elegance and detachment-- perhaps this is why it has fallen down one of the many memory holes our country reserves for dissenting work. Scandalously long out of print and worth finding.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Snapshots of Life on the Rods, April 15, 2009

By	Nate (Colorado) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

There's some good anecdotal stories here but not much for plot; the chapters are snapshots of a life on the rods tied up in the end with a bit of socio-cultural commentary. What's most interesting about this book is the fact it's been out of print for decades and this publisher (Nabat) has spent time researching the archives of the Library of Congress to find books of this nature and republish them (i.e. You Can't Win by Jack Black - highly recommended). A publisher myself, and very interested in American history-culture-society, this strategy appeals to me.