Synopses & Reviews
Known as much for his journalistic reporting as for the fiction he wrote under a variety of pen names, Bill Granger combined his divergent talents in his powerful novel
Time for Frankie Coolin. With distinctive voices, compelling characters, on-the-ground observation, and suspense, it offers a serious, illuminating take on the changing tides of race, class, and politics in late twentieth-century Chicago.
Time for Frankie Coolin tells the story of a plasterer turned landlord in Chicago who, in the late 1970s, buys abandoned buildings and makes them just habitable enough that he can charge minimal rent to his mostly black tenants. Frankieboth a tough guy in the trades and a family manhas done well by his wife and kids, moving them to a house in the suburbs. But a casual favor for his wifes cousinallowing the man to store some crates in an empty buildingand a random act of arson set in motion a cascade of crises, including a menacing pair of G-men and the looming threat of prison if Frankie doesnt talk. But since talking has never been one of Frankies strengths, he copes as he always has: by trying to tough it out on his own.
Calling to mind such gritty poets of the urban scene as George V. Higgins and Nelson Algren, Time for Frankie Coolin is both a psychological thriller and a 70s Chicago period piece that shines a surprisingly sympathetic light on the often ignored stories of the people who lived, worked, and died at the citys margins.
Review
“A raw and vivid slice of Chicago.”
Review
“Granger has painted the picture of a familiar working class type so brilliantly and with such sensitivity that the experience of living with Frankie Coolin for a few critical weeks of his life is nothing short of revelatory. . . . At the end of his story we are all the better for having walked a long mile uphill in his work shoes. Never mind literary categorizations, Time for Frankie Coolin is a potent and insightful work of art.”
Review
“A superb novel, the real thing.”
Review
“Demonstrates an uncanny ear for dialogue and a remarkable ability to pull us into the seamy alleys of modern Chicago. This is a gripping novel, a brilliant study of a simple/complex man—who grows on us like an abandoned puppy—and of a loving family closing ranks around him almost against his will.”
Review
“When the writers who are Chicago’s eternal gift to literature gather in the smoky dark spilled beer taverns of heaven to share their best work, Bill Granger will be bringing along Time For Frankie Coolin. Granger left us with a bunch of terrifically entertaining, solid stories. The November Man series—even with the marketing mischief done in the reissues in changing titles and making a horrible movie—will stand the test of time. But it’s Time For Frankie Coolin that will earn Granger a place at the table with the masters. . . . [A] quiet gem. . . . In these times of racist horror shows, the disappearing middle class and all the changes in what it means to be a family, maybe this book is just what the world needs again.”
Synopsis
A novel of rare genius, The Man with the Golden Arm describes the dissolution of a card-dealing WWII veteran named Frankie Machine, caught in the act of slowly cutting his own heart into wafer-thin slices. For Frankie, a murder committed may be the least of his problems.
The literary critic Malcolm Cowley called The Man with the Golden Arm "Algren's defense of the individual," while Carl Sandburg wrote of its "strange midnight dignity." A literary tour de force, here is a novel unlike any other, one in which drug addiction, poverty, and human failure somehow suggest a defense of human dignity and a reason for hope.
Synopsis
Time for Frankie Coolin tells the story of an absentee landlord in Chicago who, in the late 1970s, buys abandoned buildings and makes them just barely habitable so that he can charge minimal rent to his mostly black tenants. He then moved his family to the suburbs. He misses the city, but is managing pretty well until he does a favor for his wifes cousin, allowing the man to store some crates in an empty building. Then someone sets the building on fire. Pretty soon, a pair of G-men start coming around, threatening Frankie with prison if he doesnt talk to them. Since talking is not one of Frankies strengths, he just copes as he always has: by trying to tough it out on his own. Part psychological thriller and part period piece, the novel vividly evokes the south and west sides of Chicago and the people who worked there in the 1970s.
About the Author
Recipient of the first National Book Award for The Man with the Golden Arm and lauded by Hemingway as “one of the two best authors in America,” NELSON ALGREN (1909-1981) remains one of our most defiant and enduring novelists. His body of work includes five major novels, two short fiction collections, a book-length poem, and several collections of reportage—one of the most substantial of any American writer.