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Nightmare Alley
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
Nightmare Alley begins with an extraordinary description of a freak-show geekalcoholic and abject and the object of the voyeuristic crowds gleeful disgust and derisiongoing about his work at a county fair. Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. Theres no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him. And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough hes going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute bimbo (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stans for the taking. At least for now.
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review
BC_Dittemore
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Mehso-so

At almost 300 pages, Nightmare Alley is the longest book in the American Noir Collection‘s first half. And it feels like it too. It seems as if Gresham is trying to create something epic but in the confines of Noir it becomes too laborious. By the end of the book the pacing is so haphazard that you can tell Gresham just wanted to be done. And by that time I did too.

Image from the 1947 film adaptation. Directed by Edmund Goulding

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mollyrotondo
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book was excellent! The classic film was my first experience with this story. The movie captures this book so well but the book has so much honest grit and frightening yet realistic troubled people. The ending is also perfection. Highly recommend this one. This was my April #bookspin pick No. 18 pick.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2y
37 likes1 comment
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Addison_Reads
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Pickpick

This noir novel about the rise and fall of a con man is freakin' fantastic!

It's exploration into the dark, seedy side of human nature made me feel despicable just for reading it. It blows my mind that this was published in the 40s and yet the immorality of the characters ring true to people even today.

Now tomorrow I get to treat myself and watch Guillermo del Toro's version of this great read.

vivastory One of my favorites of the year! Gresham's portrait of ambition is unforgettable. Enjoy the Del Toro, I watched it a couple of weeks ago. 3y
36 likes1 comment
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Addison_Reads
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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My local library just added 50+ NYRB books to their online catalog. I'm beyond excited to start reading some of these. I've already checked out the tagged book and put Stoner on hold. 💚

Tamra I hope you 💙💙 Stoner! 3y
Sophronisba Stoner is sooooo good and I am also a big fun of Cassandra at the Wedding. 3y
vivastory You're in for a treat! Stoner is one of my favorites of all time & Nightmare Alley is one of my favorites of the year. 3y
38 likes4 comments
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MicheleinPhilly
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Pickpick

I bought this maybe a decade ago and while I‘m not setting foot in a theater any time soon, I need to be ready to watch my fantasy wife smash it as Dr. Lilith Ritter. I‘ve long been fascinated by con artists and this examination of one such individual‘s rise and fall was mesmerizing.

Leftcoastzen It‘s been on my shelves for long time , it called my name yesterday , better move it up the stack 3y
vivastory Did you watch it? She was great! I also really enjoyed her in Don't Look Up 3y
MicheleinPhilly @vivastory I did watch her in both and naturally thought she was 🔥in both. She‘s also been getting a few “lifetime achievement” awards from a number of groups. I‘ve been spoiled this year. 😍 3y
57 likes3 comments
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Howseldomtheydo
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Apparently part of the new film coming out was filmed in my City #howcoolisthat

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Howseldomtheydo
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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#currentlyreading artwork by Greg Hildebrandt

48 likes1 stack add
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Orpheuswaking
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Liberty
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Afternoon reading: I don‘t know why I have waited so long to read this. 🎪🖤📚

96 likes9 stack adds
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Dempsey
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Pickpick

I reread this book about a month ago, and I loved it even more the 2nd time. It's so sketchy and seedy, I just loved it. #LMPBC #GroupO

*trigger alert, there is a brief scene of animal abuse.

corycatelyn I just got it on Saturday...can't wait to read it 😊 6y
14 likes1 stack add1 comment
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AshleyHoss820
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Pickpick

Oh, what seedy, morally bankrupt, unlikable people are out there! A carnival worker/conman shoots for the stars...but that‘s an awful long way to drop...Dr. Ritter though, *shudder* This must have blown some minds in the ‘40‘s!! I don‘t want to spoil too much, because this is @Dempsey pick for #LMPBC #GroupO and @corycatelyn and @melyndarae have yet to read it! Jamie, it‘ll be on it‘s way tomorrow!

64 likes1 stack add
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Jessieleah
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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Starting the weekend off right 💪🏻🤓

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MicheleinPhilly
Nightmare Alley | William Lindsay Gresham
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25 likes1 stack add