Thieves Like Us - Film Ink S.

Format:	Paperback 224 pages

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Synopsis

Somewhere between the hardboiled talk of Dashiell Hammett and the dustbowl poetry of John Steinbeck lies the doomed romanticism of Edward Anderson's Thieves Like Us. When three small-time country gangsters break jail they return, like moths to the flame, to the only life they know - small town bank-robbing. And when Bowie, the youngest of them, falls in love with Keechie, one of the older gangster's cousins, it becomes a classic tale of love on the run with nowhere to hide and no hope of reprieve. First published in 1937, Thieves Like Us was powerfully adapted for the screen by Nicholas Ray as They Live by Night and once again under its original title by Robert Altman in 1973.

Book details

Published
01/09/2003

Publisher
Prion Books Ltd

ISBN
9781853755095

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"One of the great forgotten novels of the 1930s" Raymond Chandler

UK Kirkus review

Three convicts have broken jail and are on the run. Trigger-happy Chicamaw and T-Dub, proud of his mounting tally of bank raids, are the real hard cases here, while Bowie, the youngest, narrowly missed the Chair after being trapped in a shoot-out during an attempted robbery. When Bowie meets the girl Keechie he knows 'what makes a fellow get him a little missus and swing a dinner pail', but he's already fallen in with the plans of his jailmates to notch up more raids. He dreams of a better life with Keechie in Mexico. What chance do they really stand? And who can they trust to help them? Anderson powerfully evokes the sweat and bravado of life on the run, and the gang's knife-edge frustration at being holed up with money to burn that can't be spent. The characters and tension are built through tough-guy talk, while sharp images lend hostility to the Oklahoma landscape. The horror of prison farms (where some men chose to lose a limb rather than continue to hazard the terrible conditions) is highlighted, along with the role of the press in creating prejudice. Anderson dares to ask that vexed question - who are the worst thieves in society? First published in 1937, this novel is as powerful and readable as it was then, and its themes of love against the odds, divided loyalties and betrayal as relevant today as they ever were. If you enjoy the novels of Dashiell Hammett or John Steinbeck, then this book, highly praised by Raymond Chandler, will be a welcome find. (Kirkus UK)