James M. Cain

Tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful, Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir. Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.

Frank Chambers, un trotamundos sin empleo, narra en primera persona la atracción que siente por Cora Papadakis, la esposa de un emigrante de origen griego propietario de una taberna en California, y cómo se vuelven amantes unidos por el ardor y la ambición. Pero no será tan fácil librarse del viejo marido. Y habrá que contar, además, con el inescrutable destino: ese cartero que siempre llama dos veces.

È la storia, scarna, di una passione devastante, che ha per teatro uno scalcinato distributore di benzina su una statale a pochi chilometro da San Francisco, per ostacolo un marito rozzo e brutale e per via di fuga nient'altro che la tenebra. A questo romanzo ci si arrende al primo incontro, come Frank Chambers, a Cora, uno dei più temibili e vessatori fantasmi femminili che abbiano mai abitato le pagine di un romanzo: nelle parole dello stesso Cain, neppure una donna, ma "il desiderio fatto realtà".

Jacket blurb: "The story is of a man and two women mixed up in some dirty business in a small American city. You ought to worry about yourself if you don't find it exciting."

Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness. She used those attributes to survive a divorce and poverty and to claw her way out of the lower middle class. But Mildred also had two weaknesses: a yen for shiftless men, and an unreasoning devotion to a monstrous daughter. Out of these elements, James M. Cain created a novel of acute social observation and devastating emotional violence, with a heroine whose ambitions and sufferings are never less than recognizable.

Totul făcea parte din plan. Trebuia să fiu beat pentru că, după tot ce se întâmplase data trecută, îmi scosesem din cap ideea că am putea reuși o crimă perfectă. Asta avea să fie o crimă atât de prost gândită, încât nici măcar n-avea să fie o crimă. Dragostea pasională ce izbucnește torid între hoinarul Frank, pripășit la un mic restaurant de pe marginea autostrăzii, și Cora, soția proprietarului grec al localului, ia o turnură neașteptată în momentul în care cei doi hotărăsc că sunt capabili de orice pentru a-și împlini iubirea... și nevoia de bani. De unde încurcăturile și lovitura de grație... pentru că totul se plătește. Diavolul s-a băgat în pat cu noi și, crede-mă, puștoaico, doarme foarte bine aici.

A young, amateur conductor and a Mexican-Indian prostitute play tragic roles in the life of a famous opera singer

A collection of short fiction by the renowned author James M. Cain. Most of these originate prior to his blockbuster novels, 'Double Indemnity' and 'The Postman Always Rings Twice.' In just three of the twenty entries, we find: - two murderers, the head of their victim, and a frozen creek... - Lucky, the hobo, concocting the perfect alibi... - A tiger in the kitchen, and a the baby in the icebox... All twenty feature the streamlined prose, concise plots, and unique voice of the author. As editor Roy Hoopes points out in his introduction, James M. Cain wrote best when he wrote succinctly, and this collection proves the point. The short stories, sketches and dialogues, and one novella in this book are filled with people caught in the cold-blooded grip of passion and fate. It's hard-boiled fiction at its best. "Taken together, the short stories comprise a satisfying companion to Cain's novels." - Publishers Weekly Librarian's note #1: the stories include: 1. The Robber, 2. Vanishing Act, 3. Dreamland, 4. Joy Ride, 5. Queen of Love and Beauty, 6. Santa Claus M.D., 7. Gold Letters Hand Painted, 8. It Breathed, 9. The Hero, 10. Theological Interlude, 11. Pastorale, 12. The Taking of Montfaucon, 13. The Baby in the Icebox, 14. The Birthday Party, 15. Dead Man, 16. Brush Fire, 17. Coal Black, 18. The Girl in the Storm, 19. Joy Ride to Glory, and 20. Money and the Woman (aka, The Embezzler). Librarian's note #2: the following have separate entries on GR, #11, #12, #13, #15, #16, and #20 and can be reviewed individually there. The others and the collection as a whole should be reviewed here.

First published in 1946, The Butterfly takes place among the hills and hollers of West Virginia coal country. Cain uses his favorite form of narration, the first-person confessional, in relating this unusual tale of deceit, incest, and murder. Jess Tyler is a church-going mountain man. One day out of the blue, his estranged daughter, Kady, shows up at his cabin and starts throwing herself at him in a most undaughterly way. At least that's the way Jess tells it. Cain leaves a few hints that Jess may not be 100% accurate as a narrator. For example, he claims to be a God fearing teetotaler. Yet he quickly shows himself to be a seasoned expert when it comes to constructing and operating a commercial still.

Following her husband's death in a suspicious car accident, beautiful young widow Joan Medford is forced to take a job serving drinks in a cocktail lounge to make ends meet and to have a chance of regaining custody of her young son. At the job she encounters two men who take an interest in her, a handsome young schemer who makes her blood race and a wealthy but unwell older man who rewards her for her attentions with a $50,000 tip and an unconventional offer of marriage...

Cain's first novel - the subject of an obscenity trial in Boston and the inspiration for Camus's The Stranger - is the fever-pitched tale of a drifter who stumbles into a job, into an erotic obsession, and into a murder.

These three classics from the master of the noir novel, along with five otherwise unavailable short stories, are electric with the taut narrative voice, the suspense, and the explosive violence and eroticism that were James M. Cain’s indelible hallmarks.The Postman Always Rings Twice, Cain’s first novel–the subject of an obscenity trial in Boston, the inspiration for Camus’s The Stranger–is the fever-pitched tale of a drifter who stumbles into a job, into an erotic obsession, and into a murder. Double Indemnity–which followed Postman so quickly, Cain’s readers hardly had a chance to catch their breath–is a tersely narrated story of blind passion, duplicity, and, of course, murder. Mildred Pierce, a work of acute psychological observation and devastating emotional violence, is the tale of a woman with a taste for shiftless men and an unreasoned devotion to her monstrous daughter. All three novels were immortalized in classic Hollywood films. Also included here are five masterful stories–“Pastorale,” “The Baby in the Icebox,” “Dead Man,” “Brush Fire,” “The Girl in the Storm”–that have been out of print for decades.