β Scribed by Abbott Joseph Liebling
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
In its homage to Americas most rakish hucksters, Broadways "Library of Larceny" series reissues this collection of irreverent "low-life" pieces penned by Liebling, a mid-century fixture at the New Yorker renowned for his intimacy with con culture. Originally published in 1942, this sinewy compendium opens the door to the gritty underworld of grifters, showmen and hustlers from a bygone era of deadpan humor, decadent bonhomie and vigorous one-upmanship. With affectionate aplomb, Liebling introduces us to the colorful if unscrupulous denizens of Broadways Jollity Building, whose names alone are reminiscent of Garbage Pail Kids: Paddy the Booster, Acid Test Ike, Lotsandlots, Judge Horumph, Count de Pennies and Marty the Clutch (so named for his "custom of mangling peoples fingers when he shakes hands with them"). The "telephone booth Indians" moniker refers to promoters so pressed for cash that they must conduct their wheeling and dealing from one of the lobbys eight coin-box phone booths. While its riveting to learn about the humble, hardscrabble beginnings of the Shubert (yes, as in theater) brothers, whats most memorable about this masterpiece is the nostalgia Liebling evokes in his reader for larger-than-life characters such as the sartorial peacock Roy Wilson Howard, a newsman whose self-control on the telephone Liebling irresistibly likens to that "of a fat woman waving away a tray of chocolate eclairs." With a foreword by critic and Low Life author Luc Sante.
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Liebling remains the nonpareil. Anthony Lewis
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