The Telephone Booth Indian

"In its homage to America's most rakish hucksters, Broadway's '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 Broadway's 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 people's 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 lobby's eight coin-box phone booths. While it's riveting to learn about the humble, hardscrabble beginnings of the Shubert (yes, as in theater) brothers, what's 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 éclairs.' With a foreword by critic and Low Life author Luc Sante. " Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

In "The Telephone Booth Indian," Liebling proves just why he was the go-to man on New York lowlife and con culture; this is the master at the top of his form, uncovering scam after scam and writing about them with the wit and charisma that established him as one of New York's finest cultural chroniclers.

A. J. LIEBLING joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1935 and stayed there until his death in 1963. His many books include The Earl of Louisiana, Back Where I Came From, Between Meals, and The Sweet Science, which was recently voted the finest sports book of all time.