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Damon Runyon

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Guys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon Paperback – November 1, 1992

by Damon Runyon (Author), William Kennedy (Introduction)

4.6 53 ratings

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Meet Nathan Detroit and his long-suffering fiancée, Miss Adelaide; Sky Masterson and Miss Sarah Brown; and Nicely-Nicely Jones. Take in the atmosphere of the Great White Way in its heyday at a little speakeasy called Good Time Charley's. Here are thirty-two of Damon Runyon's best-loved, most "Runyonesque" stories, each woven around the mobsmen, chorus girls, gamblers, and racetrack hustlers of the Broadway he knew and loved. Runyon captures with an acute eye and ear the colorful lives and language of a bygone era, one that lives on in our imagination—and on stage.

Print length

496 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

November 1, 1992
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0140176594
ISBN-13

978-0140176599
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Later Printing edition (November 1, 1992)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140176594
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140176599
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #374,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,433 in Short Stories (Books)
- #19,465 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #21,889 in American Literature (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 53 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

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dodger

Runyon is an inspiration

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2019

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I used to own this book when I was just a boy, and yet the stories of Damon Runyon have stuck with me for decades and influenced my writing. I was so excited to find it was still in print. As I cracked the book, I wondered if I had exaggerated Runyon's brilliance in my mind. But as I started reading, I knew that he belonged up on the pedestal where I had placed him. Great dialogue and characters bring this world of crooks and wiseguys to life. I highly recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

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Scott MacGillivray

Blue-ribbon Runyon is "more than somewhat" hilarious

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2000

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This is an intelligent compilation of Damon Runyon's short stories, dating from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s. The stories are very funny, peppered with the catchy slang of Runyon's small-time con artists, racetrack touts, Broadway characters, and guys who are "just around." You don't have to be a Runyon fan to enjoy such stories as "Broadway Incident" (drama critic Ambrose Hammer goes nightclubbing), "Madame La Gimp" (hoodlums pass off a bag lady as a society matron), "A Piece of Pie" (the gang wants to bet on Nicely-Nicely Jones in an eating contest), "Delegates at Large" (Harry the Horse and his associates attend a political convention), "Hold 'Em, Yale" (the gang attends a "very large football game between the Harvards and the Yales"), and many more. "Most pleasant" reading for comedy fans.

37 people found this helpful

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The Orchid Fan

Remembering Damon Runyon Stories

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2013

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I gave this book to my daughter-in-law so that she could enjoy these stories of the Prohibition Era in New York City. These are short stories and, therefore, this is an easy pick-up book for a short read. It would be a shame to miss out on knowing this writer, who is responsible for bringing to life the speakeasy, bootlegging, gambling world of New York City's Broadway, with lots of wonderful characters (with names like "Harry the Horse" and "Sorrowful Jones") and dining in famous restaurants like Mindy's. The movies "Little Miss Marker" and "Guys and Dolls" are based on his stories.

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A dad

Great stuff, in small doses

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2014

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Hilarious stories, well told. What an original voice Runyon had. My only complaint with this is that the stories start to run together after a while. This is a good book to sip from rather than to gobble up all at once.

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2014

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I came across Damon Runyon quite accidentally, picking up a collection of his stories in a hospital waiting room. I have been hooked on Runyon's stories ever since. Sadly I spent many years without renewing my acquaintance with them. I found this volume and have enjoyed the stories over and over, savoring them like a favorite meal or a favorite dessert, enjoying them bite by bite. They please me more than somewhat.
I think that no one, before or since, has recreated the American scene of his time, a small slice of it anyway, so well as Damon Runyon.

2 people found this helpful

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Stephen Irving Max Schwab

A Runyon Merriment

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2016

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Damon Runyon may not have attained the classic level of O Henry and De'Maupasant as a short story writer, but he comes close in this anthology. What I love about Runyon is that he not only breaks every rule of grammar, he delightfully stomps on them. I especially recommend "Dancing Dan's Christmas, "Blood Pressure," and "Palm Beach Santa Claus," but each reader may have other delightful experiences.

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A. Ross

Short Story Style Wears Thin When Read in Close Succession

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2023

Most contemporary readers will come to this collection having seen the musical or movie of the same name, which is based on two of the stories in Runyon's first published collection of short stories. The original collection with this title came out in 1932, and this edition presumably includes all those stories plus another broad selection. There are 32 stories here, published between 1929-44 in various popular periodicals of the day (they are not presented chronologically, and it's not clear what the arranging principle is). A prolific journalist and writer of the 1930-40s, Runyon published well over a hundred short stories, all more or less written in a style that came to be called "Runyonesque."

The stories collected here seem to all be narrated by an unnamed frequenter of speakeasies, horse tracks, betting shops, boxing gyms, and street corners of midtown Manhattan. Each is a sanitized and romanticized tall tale about the denizens of these places, with their oversized nicknames, dubious repretations, and improbable situations -- often with a cautionary lesson at the end. This is all done in a stylized argot meant to evoke the patter of the street, along with a strict adherence to the present tense. Certain characters, locales, and motifs recur across many of the stories, and after reading a dozen over the course of a week, I found them a bit repetitive and set the book aside. There's a certain acid dry wit that's distinctive and amusing, but the effect is dulled somewhat when reading the stories in close succession. I can certainly imagine how these would have been lively hits when appearing amidst more staid content on a weekly or monthly basis. After mildly enjoying the first dozen or so stories, I wasn't particularly driven to continue on. Readers with a strong appetite for bygone Manhattan vibes should definitely check it out though.

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Crudstud

no one writes like damon runyon.

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2010

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was i sorry when i finished the last story? you bet i was. the author's style reminded me somewhat of Ring Lardner but the language was more lively and colorful. and i might add humorous. each story had something of a twist. it's a shame my children don't like to read. Damon was a master.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

quinet

Book was in excellent condition

Reviewed in Canada on August 26, 2023

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This book is a classic, I could re-read it again and again

Gerald H. Chettleburgh

New York ghosts

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2020

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Damon Runyans New York characters sit alongside the photography of Weegee. Both invoke the atmosphere of a period of New York history gone but not forgotten.

Mike Evans

Fascinating comment on the NY scene in pre war times.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2017

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A gift to my son who I'm sure will enjoy it. I used to like Damon Runyon, and we're going to see Guys and Dolls at Kilworth Open air Theatre in the summer.

Steveo

Runyon still not outdated

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2016

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Thoroughly enjoying the book having seen the film recently on TV.
The colourful characters are brought to life in the fast, exciting, talkative style.
Delivery time, condition and packaging good.

Mrs F Beames

dirty copy which was rated as good by the vendor

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

A very tatty, dirty copy which was rated as good by the vendor. Very disappointed.

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