- Hardcover: 328 pages
- Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press; 1st Edition edition (Oct 1 1978)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 080930872X
- ISBN-13: 978-0809308729
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
First published by Doubleday in 1932 in the depth of the Great Depression, an era whose seamy side it depicts, and only recently rediscovered, Fast One by Paul Cain (one of the mystery men of American literature) explodes into real life with the story of one of the toughest characters ever to emerge in American fiction.
Paul Cain is the pseudonym of Peter Ruric, a man who emerged from nowhere in the 1930s, wrote Fast One and several short stories and movie scripts, and then disappeared. Nothing more has been heard of him. Gerry Kells, the antihero of his shocking, brutal novel, is equally mysterious. A loner with a reputation but without a visible past, Kells simply appears, rearranges the lives of the Los Angeles underworld, and then is heard no more.
Only the strong prosper in the world of the depression. Seemingly amoral, Kells does prosper. He strikes to survive, kills without conscience, without time for conscience. But he never becomes a mere killing machine. His integrity, his humanity, abides in a code demanding that he pay for all services: those rendered for him, those rendered against him.
Fast paced and very readable, the novel limns a true character who should take his place in our national literature, if only for his representation of the individual will to survive in one of the toughest times in American life.
About the Author
Irvin Faust is a writer and teacher whose novels include Roar Lion Roar (1965) and Willy Remembers (1971). He lives in New York City.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
True beginning of the noir genre,
By excaj@aol.com (excelsior) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fast One (Paperback)
A keen dive into L.A. noir, before anyone else, and a likely influence to Hammett's Red Harvest and its subsequent manifestations, from Yojimbo to A Few Dollars More to film Last Man Standing. Not the same story, however. Great voice- hear the word "homeboy" used correctly in context from nearly seventy years ago. Ellroy's White Jazz is possibly the only evolutionary offspring.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tougher than a twenty minute egg,
By
This review is from: Fast One (Paperback)
Every fan of Chandler and Hammet owes it to themselves to DEMAND that their local mystery store carry this book. From the tough as nails dialog to the bleak ending, bitter as a bucket of limes, this is the penultimate hardboiled novel. Fast One makes Grafton, Cornwall, et al look like lukewarm consommé at a spinsterish tearoom. The literary equivalent to a baseball bat baptism
5.0 out of 5 stars
The ultimate hard-boiled crime novel.,
By burglar "burglar" (Newport Beach, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fast One (Paperback)
It's a crime that this book is currently out of print. If Paul Cain had published more novels (this was his only one, though he wrote many fine short stories), he might well be as famous as Hammett and Chandler. One reviewer, years ago, wrote that reading Fast One was like traveling to Antarctica -- once you arrived, there was no where else to go. In other words, this novel is truly the hardest, toughest, bleakest and bloodiest of the hard-boiled genre. It defines the outer edges of tough-guy fiction. Spare, terse and without redeeming social value, it is a remarkable work. I highly recommend it. Do whatever you can to find a copy, but you can't have mine
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