The first biography of the vagabond, hard-boiled writer who rocked
Hollywood during the Roaring Twenties The son of an Irish
ditch-digger, Jim Tully (1886-1947) left his hometown of St. Marys,
Ohio, in 1901, spending most of his teenage years in the company of
hoboes. Drifting across the country as a "road kid," he spent those
years scrambling into boxcars, sleeping in hobo jungles, avoiding
railroad cops, begging meals from back doors, and haunting public
libraries. After six years on the road, he jumped off a railroad
car in Kent, Ohio, with wild aspirations of becoming a writer.
While chasing his dream, Tully worked as a chain maker, boxer,
newspaper reporter, and tree surgeon. All the while he was crafting
his memories of the road into a dark and astonishing chronicle of
the American underclass. After moving to Hollywood and working for
Charlie Chaplin, Tully began to write a stream of critically
acclaimed books mostly about his road years, including Beggars of
Life, Circus Parade, Blood on the Moon, Shadows of Men, and Shanty
Irish. He quickly established himself as a major American author
and used his status to launch a parallel career as a Hollywood
journalist. Much as his gritty books shocked the country, his
magazine articles on movies shocked Hollywood. Along the way, he
picked up such close friends as W. C. Fields, Jack Dempsey, Damon
Runyon, Lon Chaney, Frank Capra, and Erich von Stroheim. He also
memorably crossed paths with Jack London, F. Scott Fitzgerald,
George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, and Langston Hughes. The
definitive biography of a remarkable writer, Jim Tully: American
Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler compellingly describes the
hardscrabble life of an Irish American storyteller, from his
immigrant roots, rural upbringing, and life as a hobo riding the
rails to the emergent dream factory of early and Golden Age
Hollywood and the fall of his fortunes during the Great Depression.
Many saw the dark side of the American dream, but none wrote about
it like Jim Tully.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!