A gripping noir 'Nightmare' of pitiable torment

In the opening pages, set in the dilapidated Ten-in-One "carny," handsome blond Stan Carlisle stares at a geek, a supposed wild man who bites the heads off live chickens and drinks their blood. Before long, we also meet the randy, grotesquely tattooed Sailor Martin; the spiteful dwarf Majo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Washington post
Main Author Dirda, Michael
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, D.C WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post 13.05.2010
Subjects
Gresham, William Lindsay
Literary criticism
Nightmare Alley
Novels
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Summary:In the opening pages, set in the dilapidated Ten-in-One "carny," handsome blond Stan Carlisle stares at a geek, a supposed wild man who bites the heads off live chickens and drinks their blood. Before long, we also meet the randy, grotesquely tattooed Sailor Martin; the spiteful dwarf Major Mosquito; the kindly acrobatic Joe Plasky, who swings himself along on his hands because his legs are completely atrophied; the foreign strong man Bruno; and the frail and beautiful Mamzelle Electra, whose real name is Molly and who seems unnaturally occupied with memories of her father.
ISSN:0190-8286