Laughter in Hell

by Jim Tully

The author's ninth book, "set in the 1880's, about an Irish-American railroad man who is sentenced to a chain gang after killing his wife and her lover in a jealous rage" (Prouty, Howard. The Dozen and One: A Field Guide to the Books of Jim Tully, p.[11]). The second and last of Tully's books to be adapted for the silver screen, basis for Edward L. Cahn's 1933 film of the same name, which cast Tully himself alongside Pat O'Brien, Tommy Conlon, and Merna Kennedy. HANNA 3570. First Printing.

266 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Jim Tully was an American vagabond, pugilist, and writer. He enjoyed critical and commercial success as a writer in the 1920s and 1930s.

Reviews

[WJEP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has some terrific (in all meanings of the word) chain-gang sadism, yellow fever suffering, and screwworm fly torment. But Tully believes in the myth of the noble convict: "Solemn in suffering, Slaney was a man with neither fear nor malice." I prefer convicts with little fear, malice, and jocularity (for example, I prefer the kind of jailbird who decapitates parking meters for no apparent reason).

[J-kwon Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was interested to read Tully because I saw he spent time in Chicagos skid row. I googled his name and found a pdf of this book. It gripped me immediately, I thought he prose was great and I was very surprised and shocked at the level of violence in the book. Some of the scenes are quite ghastly. Lots of death.

The book kept me turning pages but the second half definitely lost momentum. Overall I took it as a work of naturalism, I was hoping that there was gonna be some grander point on the subject of feminism due to the fact that the main character killed his wife, but there’s no real lesson on that.

All together I’d say it’s a good book that falls short of being great.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the late 1800s, Laughter in Hell is pure noir. Bleak. Contains all the nihilism of between-the-World Wars literature.

The book opens with a railroad engineer being sentenced to a life of hard labor. He had come home one night to find his wife in bed with another man and killed them both.

When he gets to prison he finds that his arch-nemesis, a former railroad security man, is head of the prison guards and intent on making his life of hard labor a living Hell.

When the chain gang is diverted to a town to bury the dead during a yellow-fever epidemic, Slaney, the protagonist, sees his chance at escaping this Hell.

[Bobarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun novel that seems to be the Cool Hand Luke of it's time. Tully's writing is not only accessable but also relatable nearly 100 years later. This isn't my favorite of his works but it is still a good read that speaks of an era gone by.