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Thieves Like Us
"One of the great forgotten novels of the 30s."
- Raymond Chandler
Somewhere between the hardboiled talk of Dashiell Hammett and the dustbowl poetry of John Steinbeck lies the doomed romanticism of Edward Anderson's 'Thieves Like Us'. When three small-time country gangsters break jail, they return, like moths to a flame, to the only life they know - smalltown bank-robbing. And when Bowie, the youngest of them, falls in love with Keechie, one of the older gangster's cousins, it becomes a classic tale of love with nowhere to hide and no hope of reprieve.
First published in 1937, 'Thieves Like Us' was powerfully adapted for the screen by Nicholas Ray in 1948 as 'They Live by Night' and once again under its original title by Robert Altman in 1973.
- Raymond Chandler
Somewhere between the hardboiled talk of Dashiell Hammett and the dustbowl poetry of John Steinbeck lies the doomed romanticism of Edward Anderson's 'Thieves Like Us'. When three small-time country gangsters break jail, they return, like moths to a flame, to the only life they know - smalltown bank-robbing. And when Bowie, the youngest of them, falls in love with Keechie, one of the older gangster's cousins, it becomes a classic tale of love with nowhere to hide and no hope of reprieve.
First published in 1937, 'Thieves Like Us' was powerfully adapted for the screen by Nicholas Ray in 1948 as 'They Live by Night' and once again under its original title by Robert Altman in 1973.
206 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
37 people are currently reading
1436 people want to read
About the author
Edward Anderson
6 books2 followersEdward Anderson (1905–1969) was born in Texas in 1905 and grew up in Oklahoma, serving his apprenticeship as a journalist on a small paper in Ardmore, Okla. Restless, he worked as a deckhand on a freighter, plied his fists as a prizefighter, had some small success as a musician and, when the Great Depression of the 1930s hit, roamed the roads and rails, learning the life of the hobo. This crucial experience led to fiction, and to his first novel, “Hungry Men”, which in 1933 caused the Saturday Review of Literature to pronounce him the heir to Hemingway and Faulkner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
April 26, 2018
Prisons are simply pimples on a corrupt world. The great criminals, I mean the real enemies of man's welfare and peace and happiness, never go near a prison and the dead ones, out in these cemeteries, have the highest tombstones over their heads. Normal men with abnormal tendencies. My God. Is is a wonder people do not smell, their minds are so rotten.
Three small time gangsters manage a daring escape from prison, but they have little choice of making a living outside so they go back to what they know best – robbing banks at gunpoint. Two of them, T-Dub and Chicamaw, are older, hardened criminals, products of the Depression era who see crime as the only way to get ahead in a corrupt society. Their leitmotif is the often repeated phrase that gives the title to the novel:
Them Laws and druggists are thieves just like us. It's getting so a man has to have a gun to make a piece of money.
or,
Them politicians are thieves just like us. Only they got more sense and use their damn tongues instead of a gun.
and so on ... grumbling about doctors, lawyers, shop owners, investors. Basically the whole world is out to get them and they plan to go down fighting the system.
Bowie, the third guy, is younger and easily led astray. Born in the countryside, he fell in with a bunch of bad kids and ended up in prison almost by mistake. His bad judgement is compounded by making friends with T-Dub and Chicamaw, which he follows out of a perverted sense of loyalty and fascination with their rebellious trash talk.
The novel is less a heist thriller and more of a character study – both for the criminal minds and for society in the aftermath of the Great Depression. It is written in the spare style of the period, with a lot of slang thrown in, constant drinking and the occasional poetic flourish.
The story is also firmly established in the noir canon by its fatalism. Bowie is offered a chance at redemption, as he falls in love with the niece of one of his partners. Keechie is his chance to escape this cycle of violence, but Bowie feels duty bound to stand by his criminal buddies. It will probably end up in tears.
I don't guess I could have done anything else except what I have. What will be, will be.
—«»—«»—«»—
This review is shorter than I would have preferred, since I finished the book almost two months ago and was too lazy to put pen to paper immediately. Nevertheless, I consider "Thieves Like Us" a classic of the period, well worth reading by fans of the genre. I also plan to watch both movie versions and compare them with the source material. Too bad Edward Anderson never wrote more books like this one.
July 6, 2023
Edward Anderson’s “Thieves Like Us” was originally published in 1937, republished numerous times since then, and made into a motion picture twice. It is a depression era tale about three criminals who break out of a prison farm and embark on a deadly tornado of bank robbing. Bathed in realism, the tone of the book simply breathes authenticity. They are hardened criminals without one regret for their deeds.
But what makes it interesting is the tag line thieves like us. As you read through this, you hear the philosophy over and over again that they were not the only thieves. You hear that bankers and lawyers are thieves too. They are just dressed nicer and more acceptable to society. There’s also the philosophical construct that they are no different than millionaires who somehow swindled their way to the top.
While this has a real Bonnie and Clyde feel to it, there is a grittiness and a fatalism to these three guys, T-Dub, Chickasaw, and Bowie which is way more authentic than Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.
But what makes it interesting is the tag line thieves like us. As you read through this, you hear the philosophy over and over again that they were not the only thieves. You hear that bankers and lawyers are thieves too. They are just dressed nicer and more acceptable to society. There’s also the philosophical construct that they are no different than millionaires who somehow swindled their way to the top.
While this has a real Bonnie and Clyde feel to it, there is a grittiness and a fatalism to these three guys, T-Dub, Chickasaw, and Bowie which is way more authentic than Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.
March 7, 2018
The oft-overlooked noir first written and published back in the days of James M. Cain deserves to be rediscovered. The story of bank robbers on the run was ripped straight from Bonnie and Clyde and Dillinger headlines in the "Public Enemy" Era of the Great Depression, a time when the average citizen was more inclined to sympathize with the criminal than with the bank. With a low page count, Anderson doesn't waste words but still packs in a lot of story to go with the authentic dusty back-roads small-town setting, and the crisp dialogue still crackles after all these years. No wonder Raymond Chandler called this book "one of the best crook stories ever written."
September 22, 2022
The Little Soldier
Set in the dusty small towns and country roads of Depression-era Oklahoma and Texas, Edward Anderson's 1937 novel, "Thieves like Us" is an early example of American hardboiled noir. The novel describes the bank robberies and other criminal activities of a gang of three men, Bowie Bowers, 27, Chickamaw, 35, and T-Dub,44. The three have escaped from a prison in which they had been serving life sentences and embarked upon a spree of crime. The youngest, Bowie, had been sentenced to death for murder but had his sentence commuted.
Much of the book involves the fates and characters of these three sometimes comrades who are tough, violent, and yet sympathetic to varied degrees. The book begins with a kidnapping and robbery and the crimes don't let up. The trio rob several banks, as Anderson sets up and describes the scenarios and the towns in fast-paced detail. Of the three characters, T-Dub dies in a shoot-out following a robbery while Chickamaw barely survives the shooting and receives another life prison sentence.
The focus of the book is on young Bowie, a loyal, willing yet strangely innocent member of the group. Bowie admits he enjoys his life of crime and robbery, yet there is something quiet and decent about the man. He tells himself he is going to leave crime after one more heist and settle down to a life of peace in Mexico. Early in the book, Bowie meets a young woman named Keechie, the hardscrabble daughter of an accessory to the three. Laconic and reserved, Keechie has little use for Chickamaw and T-Dub. When Bowie suffers severe injuries in a car accident, which also leads to murder charges, Keechie nurses him faithfully to health and promises to stay with him. Bowie aptly nicknames her "The Little Soldier".
For all the focus on the men and their crimes, Little Soldier Keechie became for me the dominant figure in the book. She shows a virtually absolute loyalty to Bowie while caring for him and advising him well. The pair leave Oklahoma and try to settle down in remote Southern Texas and to forget Bowie's past. The fear of detection forces a move to New Orleans. Bowie's severely misplaced loyalty to his friends and an ache for the fast life doom the couple's attempt to forge a new life. Keechie's loyalty to Bowie is sorely tested but holds. In her faithfulness, trust, and prudence, Keechie is indeed a "Little Soldier" and endearing. The nature of loyalty, both when it is pursued with love and when it is misplaced, is at the heart of "Thieves like Us".
The book captures the atmosphere of the Depression and of low life. Comparisons drawn between the criminal life, and the activities or capitalists, bankers, lawyers, and the police figure inevitably in the plot but are not overly intrusive. The dialogue is sharp and focused and makes extensive use of the slang and idioms of the day and place. Much of the story is recounted through newspaper articles that Bowie and his compatriots read while on the lam. For all his near success, Bowie proves shockingly naive in his judgments of people as he destroys himself and a love that could have led to happiness.
As with the best of noir, "Thieves like Us" transcends genre writing in its portrayal of character and place. Anderson (1905 -- 1969) sold the film rights to his novel for $500, and the book was filed twice: "They Live by Night" directed by Nicholas Ray in 1950, and "Thieves like Us" directed by Robert Altman in 1974. The novel is available in a single book, reviewed here, or in a compilation of classic American Noir of the 1930s and 40s in the Library of America series. "Thieves like Us" is a worthwhile, gripping novel that will interest readers fascinated by noir or by American literature.
Robin Friedman
Set in the dusty small towns and country roads of Depression-era Oklahoma and Texas, Edward Anderson's 1937 novel, "Thieves like Us" is an early example of American hardboiled noir. The novel describes the bank robberies and other criminal activities of a gang of three men, Bowie Bowers, 27, Chickamaw, 35, and T-Dub,44. The three have escaped from a prison in which they had been serving life sentences and embarked upon a spree of crime. The youngest, Bowie, had been sentenced to death for murder but had his sentence commuted.
Much of the book involves the fates and characters of these three sometimes comrades who are tough, violent, and yet sympathetic to varied degrees. The book begins with a kidnapping and robbery and the crimes don't let up. The trio rob several banks, as Anderson sets up and describes the scenarios and the towns in fast-paced detail. Of the three characters, T-Dub dies in a shoot-out following a robbery while Chickamaw barely survives the shooting and receives another life prison sentence.
The focus of the book is on young Bowie, a loyal, willing yet strangely innocent member of the group. Bowie admits he enjoys his life of crime and robbery, yet there is something quiet and decent about the man. He tells himself he is going to leave crime after one more heist and settle down to a life of peace in Mexico. Early in the book, Bowie meets a young woman named Keechie, the hardscrabble daughter of an accessory to the three. Laconic and reserved, Keechie has little use for Chickamaw and T-Dub. When Bowie suffers severe injuries in a car accident, which also leads to murder charges, Keechie nurses him faithfully to health and promises to stay with him. Bowie aptly nicknames her "The Little Soldier".
For all the focus on the men and their crimes, Little Soldier Keechie became for me the dominant figure in the book. She shows a virtually absolute loyalty to Bowie while caring for him and advising him well. The pair leave Oklahoma and try to settle down in remote Southern Texas and to forget Bowie's past. The fear of detection forces a move to New Orleans. Bowie's severely misplaced loyalty to his friends and an ache for the fast life doom the couple's attempt to forge a new life. Keechie's loyalty to Bowie is sorely tested but holds. In her faithfulness, trust, and prudence, Keechie is indeed a "Little Soldier" and endearing. The nature of loyalty, both when it is pursued with love and when it is misplaced, is at the heart of "Thieves like Us".
The book captures the atmosphere of the Depression and of low life. Comparisons drawn between the criminal life, and the activities or capitalists, bankers, lawyers, and the police figure inevitably in the plot but are not overly intrusive. The dialogue is sharp and focused and makes extensive use of the slang and idioms of the day and place. Much of the story is recounted through newspaper articles that Bowie and his compatriots read while on the lam. For all his near success, Bowie proves shockingly naive in his judgments of people as he destroys himself and a love that could have led to happiness.
As with the best of noir, "Thieves like Us" transcends genre writing in its portrayal of character and place. Anderson (1905 -- 1969) sold the film rights to his novel for $500, and the book was filed twice: "They Live by Night" directed by Nicholas Ray in 1950, and "Thieves like Us" directed by Robert Altman in 1974. The novel is available in a single book, reviewed here, or in a compilation of classic American Noir of the 1930s and 40s in the Library of America series. "Thieves like Us" is a worthwhile, gripping novel that will interest readers fascinated by noir or by American literature.
Robin Friedman
August 30, 2013
Published in 1937, THIEVES LIKE US is half noir, half romance entwined with a violent group of jail break bank robbers on a deadly mission for that elusive big score.
Post roaring twenties, that era is very much an influence on the novel with references to prohibition, the allure of bank robbing, and small time gangsters casing small town banks paramount throughout.
THIEVES LIKE US follows a band of prison escapees on the run from the law and on the look-out for quick scores. They take down a couple of banks, spill some blood, and love a little on their way to oblivion.
The first half stacked up really well before turning into more of a love/romance story between one of the gangsters in Bowie and one of his fellow robber's cousins, Keechie - a gangster moll figure if ever there was one (albeit of the watered down variety). At times the narrative meandered and the dialogue was inconsequential to the broader story. I did wonder where Anderson was taking these characters, then out of nowhere the drama resumed and the novel ended all too soon in a hail of bullets.
This novel is part of the excellent 1930's American Noir collection by The Library of America and while not the best of the collected novels it's still a must read for noir fans.
This review also appears on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
Post roaring twenties, that era is very much an influence on the novel with references to prohibition, the allure of bank robbing, and small time gangsters casing small town banks paramount throughout.
THIEVES LIKE US follows a band of prison escapees on the run from the law and on the look-out for quick scores. They take down a couple of banks, spill some blood, and love a little on their way to oblivion.
The first half stacked up really well before turning into more of a love/romance story between one of the gangsters in Bowie and one of his fellow robber's cousins, Keechie - a gangster moll figure if ever there was one (albeit of the watered down variety). At times the narrative meandered and the dialogue was inconsequential to the broader story. I did wonder where Anderson was taking these characters, then out of nowhere the drama resumed and the novel ended all too soon in a hail of bullets.
This novel is part of the excellent 1930's American Noir collection by The Library of America and while not the best of the collected novels it's still a must read for noir fans.
This review also appears on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
December 31, 2012
This is a classic and a must read! I had never heard of this before and only read it because I've been working my way through the Library of America "Crime Novels" collection. This is one of only two novels by Edward Anderson. He lived a tumultuous life, mostly as a newspaper man. He had multiple marriages, once to the same woman a couple times. He abused alcohol, had extreme religious and political beliefs and died young. And brother, does this crazy life come out in his writing!
This book is honestly what it would look like if John Steinbeck wrote a combination of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Bonnie and Clyde." Just a beautiful book. It felt real. It felt of the time. I felt the way I did the first time I read "Of Mice and Men" (i.e. blown away and wondering whether I just read the great American novel).
Finding hidden treasures like this is what us bibliophiles live for. Track down this gem and enjoy. A short read at 165 pages. You have no excuse. Go. Now!
Great quotes:
"The empty highway behind them looked like a stretching rubber band."
"There are more millionaires in this country than in any other, he said, and at the same time more robbers and killers. Therein lay significance. Extremes in riches make extremes in crime. As long as a Social System permitted the acquisition of extreme riches, there would be equalizing crime and the Government and all law enforcement organizations might as well fold their hands and accept it."
That was written in 1937 but could have been written last week. Some truths only get more powerful with the passing of time.
This book is honestly what it would look like if John Steinbeck wrote a combination of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Bonnie and Clyde." Just a beautiful book. It felt real. It felt of the time. I felt the way I did the first time I read "Of Mice and Men" (i.e. blown away and wondering whether I just read the great American novel).
Finding hidden treasures like this is what us bibliophiles live for. Track down this gem and enjoy. A short read at 165 pages. You have no excuse. Go. Now!
Great quotes:
"The empty highway behind them looked like a stretching rubber band."
"There are more millionaires in this country than in any other, he said, and at the same time more robbers and killers. Therein lay significance. Extremes in riches make extremes in crime. As long as a Social System permitted the acquisition of extreme riches, there would be equalizing crime and the Government and all law enforcement organizations might as well fold their hands and accept it."
That was written in 1937 but could have been written last week. Some truths only get more powerful with the passing of time.
November 20, 2024
A little Indian-looking girl "plays house" with a case-hardened bankrobber. It seemed to me that Anderson modeled Keechie & Bowie after Bonnie & Clyde (who were shot down a couple of years before he wrote this). The writing is peppered with lots of 1930's Choctaw Nation gangster patter.
"Well, the way I figure it," Chicamaw said, "is that two and two make five and if at first you don’t suck seed, keep on sucking 'til you do suck seed."
Read
November 16, 2024Three convicts bust out of their Oklahoma prison and hit the road. Being hardened criminals, Bowie Bowers, Chicamaw (Elmo “Three-Toed” Mobley), and T-Dub (T. W. “Tommy Gun” Masefeld) resume their old ways quickly. The trio leave a trail of indiscriminate robberies, kidnappings, and murders in their wake. To these men, everyone is a thief, the only question is through what means – no one person is any better or worse than any other in their accounting. Morality is beyond thought. Might these men, or at least one of them, make it across the border into Mexico, to live a quiet, peaceful life, or does fate have a more violent end in store for them. When Bowie forms a relationship with Keechie, a daughter of Chicamaw’s cousin Dee Mobley, there’s a prospect of hope for one man. But Mr. Anderson sets this tale in the Great Depression, where redemption is as tough to find as lasting optimism.
I recently had a conversation with a retired FBI agent that touched on criminal behavior. He spoke of the difficulties law enforcement faces in prosecuting bad individuals, and then obtaining a conviction. He then mentioned that it’s all about patience. Even if unsuccessful at first in holding a criminal accountable, they will put themselves in jeopardy again, offering justice one more opportunity to exact a penalty. I believe he saw bad persons as nothing more than bad persons, beyond conversion.
I recently had a conversation with a retired FBI agent that touched on criminal behavior. He spoke of the difficulties law enforcement faces in prosecuting bad individuals, and then obtaining a conviction. He then mentioned that it’s all about patience. Even if unsuccessful at first in holding a criminal accountable, they will put themselves in jeopardy again, offering justice one more opportunity to exact a penalty. I believe he saw bad persons as nothing more than bad persons, beyond conversion.
September 14, 2013
Reading Edward Anderson's Thieves Like Us was like coming back to an old familiar friend -- not because I had read it before, but because I remember Nicholas Ray's film version entitled They Drive by Night with Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell so well.
Thieves Like Us is one of those noir novels that carry with it a heavy sense of doom. The story is of three bank robbers named Chicamaw, T-Dub, and Bowie. One never looks into the mind of anyone outside the crime world, because they are all likely to be "Square Johns," "Hoosiers," or others intent on ratting them out to the Law.
The youngest of he three, Bowie, takes up with Keechie, who works at a small town gas station and is remotely related to Chicamaw. They become a fugitive couple, and they even succeed after Chicamaw and T-Dub have been captured. When Bowie tries to spring Chicamaw from a prison farm, the latter shakes his head:
No matter, savage irony or not, Thieves Like Us is not only a good read, but a cornerstone of the whole noir genre.
Thieves Like Us is one of those noir novels that carry with it a heavy sense of doom. The story is of three bank robbers named Chicamaw, T-Dub, and Bowie. One never looks into the mind of anyone outside the crime world, because they are all likely to be "Square Johns," "Hoosiers," or others intent on ratting them out to the Law.
The youngest of he three, Bowie, takes up with Keechie, who works at a small town gas station and is remotely related to Chicamaw. They become a fugitive couple, and they even succeed after Chicamaw and T-Dub have been captured. When Bowie tries to spring Chicamaw from a prison farm, the latter shakes his head:
I tell you, man, I don't see how you do it. You get out here and run those roads and pull a thing like that back yonder [springing Chicamaw by pretending to be a sheriff with a bench warrant] and beat these Laws right and left, and, by God, Bowie, I don't see how in the hell you do it. You're just a big country boy and just chumpy as hell at times and yet you do it.But Bowie and Keechie's luck eventually runs out, as one could tell almost at the start of the novel.
No matter, savage irony or not, Thieves Like Us is not only a good read, but a cornerstone of the whole noir genre.
September 7, 2025
Brutal and unsparing.
June 27, 2016
My original Thieves Like Us audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
Thieves Like Us was originally published in 1937 and is part of the American Noir of the 1930s and 40s collection. It provided the basis for two films: They Live By Night (1949) and Thieves Like Us (1974).
The story focuses on Bowie, Chicamaw, and T-Dub. Bowie, the youngest of them, killed a guy when he was 16. Chicamaw and T-Dub are convicted bank robbers. Following their escape from a chain gang, they continue robbing banks in order to get smart clothes, fast cars, and more guns. Bowie becomes romantically involved with Keechie, a young girl who is related to Chicamaw and who works at a gas station where they hide out. Set in the 1930s in Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, this is a Depression-era story with a good bit of social commentary, with bankers referred to as “thieves like us” and politicians who “use their damned tongues instead of a gun.”
I found the story slow to start with, as there was a lot of conversation between the three men that I didn’t find particularly engrossing. Once the plot started to focus on Bowie and Keechie, I found myself a lot more engaged. But action-packed, this isn’t. In fact, a lot of the action, such as the bank robberies, chases etc, is described retrospectively via newspaper articles. I thought that was quite a good narrative device as the media account of the “dangerous” criminals didn’t tally at all with their rather dull lives of hiding out, reading the paper and discussing ball games.
There was a feeling of unease right from the start which turned to unavoidable doom at the latest by the time Bowie and Keechie set off road tripping and ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ automatically came to mind. This is hard-boiled crime fiction, but quite moving in parts. Bowie was a really interesting character, extremely loyal and also generous, defiantly proclaiming “I never robbed nothin’ that couldn’t stand being robbed.” However, when he reminisced about Keechie, he sometimes came across as a total psychopath thinking “I can snap her little body. I can break her little body in my grip.” Their relationship was difficult to believe at times.
The narration by Mike Dennis was first-class. His voice suited the protagonists, the pacing was excellent and his delivery really captured the setting. You felt transported back to that period in time and the story came to life.
This is classic noir, and if you appreciate stories of inevitable self-destruction, then this is an appealing listen that perfectly captures the 30s Depression era.
Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com
Thieves Like Us was originally published in 1937 and is part of the American Noir of the 1930s and 40s collection. It provided the basis for two films: They Live By Night (1949) and Thieves Like Us (1974).
The story focuses on Bowie, Chicamaw, and T-Dub. Bowie, the youngest of them, killed a guy when he was 16. Chicamaw and T-Dub are convicted bank robbers. Following their escape from a chain gang, they continue robbing banks in order to get smart clothes, fast cars, and more guns. Bowie becomes romantically involved with Keechie, a young girl who is related to Chicamaw and who works at a gas station where they hide out. Set in the 1930s in Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, this is a Depression-era story with a good bit of social commentary, with bankers referred to as “thieves like us” and politicians who “use their damned tongues instead of a gun.”
I found the story slow to start with, as there was a lot of conversation between the three men that I didn’t find particularly engrossing. Once the plot started to focus on Bowie and Keechie, I found myself a lot more engaged. But action-packed, this isn’t. In fact, a lot of the action, such as the bank robberies, chases etc, is described retrospectively via newspaper articles. I thought that was quite a good narrative device as the media account of the “dangerous” criminals didn’t tally at all with their rather dull lives of hiding out, reading the paper and discussing ball games.
There was a feeling of unease right from the start which turned to unavoidable doom at the latest by the time Bowie and Keechie set off road tripping and ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ automatically came to mind. This is hard-boiled crime fiction, but quite moving in parts. Bowie was a really interesting character, extremely loyal and also generous, defiantly proclaiming “I never robbed nothin’ that couldn’t stand being robbed.” However, when he reminisced about Keechie, he sometimes came across as a total psychopath thinking “I can snap her little body. I can break her little body in my grip.” Their relationship was difficult to believe at times.
The narration by Mike Dennis was first-class. His voice suited the protagonists, the pacing was excellent and his delivery really captured the setting. You felt transported back to that period in time and the story came to life.
This is classic noir, and if you appreciate stories of inevitable self-destruction, then this is an appealing listen that perfectly captures the 30s Depression era.
Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com
October 27, 2008
The most gracefully written crime novel there is. . .a MUST read for fans of the genre - pick it up at any and all costs.
July 16, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 86 (of 250)
"The Rich can't drive their big automobiles and flaunt bediamonded wives and expect every man to simply look on admiringly. The SHEEP will do it and the SHEEP will even laud it and support it, but at the same time these SHEEP will feel something that they do not understand and demonstrate it and that is known as so-called glorification of the BIG CRIMINAL," writes Anderson in 1937. He certainly knew a thing or two about criminals, and he is frighteningly prescient...or perhaps proves time is non-linear after all.
And today, especially in America, these SHEEP do indeed think the Big Criminal is going to give them a piece of the pie. It would be funny if it weren't so true and so sad.
HOOK=4 stars: "To MY COUSIN and MY WIFE because there I was with an empty gun and you, Roy, supplied the ammunition and you, ANNE, directed my aim," goes the dedication. That's a helluva dedication, especially given author Anderson had a cousin who served time in prison for bank robber.
PACE=3 stars: The first half rages along, then the second half slows to explore a relationship. In 2018, we know exactly how this is going to end, hence the author's attempt to build tension just hasn't aged well, but perhaps in 1937 the fates were questionable. I can't help but compare this story to Elliot Chaze's "Black Wings Has My Angel" (1954) in which the author riffs on a similar theme but gives the reader a slam-bang shock of an ending, even though we know how it's all going to end.
PLOT=2: Gangsters on the run. Standard fare, but with a "newspaper article" ending which doesn't tell us everything we want to know. And, if you're a fan of detective crime fiction and like for all issues to be tied up nicely, this irritates a bit.
PEOPLE=4: You're gonna really like Bowie and Keechie. But T-Dub (how's that for a name that works in 2018 beautifully?) delivers the best lines, up to a point: "They're just like us" he says, referring to bank managers hoping to be robbed but hiding their own stash of money and claiming it's all gone (or so T-Dub thinks, relieving himself of any guilt). But later, he says, "Them lawyers and druggists are theives just like us." Then, "Them politicians are thieves just like." Very stylish dialogue here which, at times, crosses the line into "stop already!" and it is understandable that Raymond Chandler, he of style over substance, would praise this book. (BUT, Chandler's dialogue is far more racist and sexist in general, so if you have a hard time with the dialogue here, best to skip early Chandler and go to his later work.)
PLACE=4: "In Glorious Depression Era Black and White" cinematography. Nicely atmospheric: run down apartments, old-school "filling stations/gas stations" at which you might rummage for a Coke in a cooler of ice: why, you can see it play out on a screen. And it was, indeed, made into a film entitled "They Live By Night" directed by Nicholas Ray.
Summary: 3.4. This is a nicely written character/atmosphere-driven work. I hope I can find this author's first novel, "Hungry Men." (Biographical notes from "American Noir of the 1930s and 1940s", edited by Robert Polito.)
BOOK 86 (of 250)
"The Rich can't drive their big automobiles and flaunt bediamonded wives and expect every man to simply look on admiringly. The SHEEP will do it and the SHEEP will even laud it and support it, but at the same time these SHEEP will feel something that they do not understand and demonstrate it and that is known as so-called glorification of the BIG CRIMINAL," writes Anderson in 1937. He certainly knew a thing or two about criminals, and he is frighteningly prescient...or perhaps proves time is non-linear after all.
And today, especially in America, these SHEEP do indeed think the Big Criminal is going to give them a piece of the pie. It would be funny if it weren't so true and so sad.
HOOK=4 stars: "To MY COUSIN and MY WIFE because there I was with an empty gun and you, Roy, supplied the ammunition and you, ANNE, directed my aim," goes the dedication. That's a helluva dedication, especially given author Anderson had a cousin who served time in prison for bank robber.
PACE=3 stars: The first half rages along, then the second half slows to explore a relationship. In 2018, we know exactly how this is going to end, hence the author's attempt to build tension just hasn't aged well, but perhaps in 1937 the fates were questionable. I can't help but compare this story to Elliot Chaze's "Black Wings Has My Angel" (1954) in which the author riffs on a similar theme but gives the reader a slam-bang shock of an ending, even though we know how it's all going to end.
PLOT=2: Gangsters on the run. Standard fare, but with a "newspaper article" ending which doesn't tell us everything we want to know. And, if you're a fan of detective crime fiction and like for all issues to be tied up nicely, this irritates a bit.
PEOPLE=4: You're gonna really like Bowie and Keechie. But T-Dub (how's that for a name that works in 2018 beautifully?) delivers the best lines, up to a point: "They're just like us" he says, referring to bank managers hoping to be robbed but hiding their own stash of money and claiming it's all gone (or so T-Dub thinks, relieving himself of any guilt). But later, he says, "Them lawyers and druggists are theives just like us." Then, "Them politicians are thieves just like." Very stylish dialogue here which, at times, crosses the line into "stop already!" and it is understandable that Raymond Chandler, he of style over substance, would praise this book. (BUT, Chandler's dialogue is far more racist and sexist in general, so if you have a hard time with the dialogue here, best to skip early Chandler and go to his later work.)
PLACE=4: "In Glorious Depression Era Black and White" cinematography. Nicely atmospheric: run down apartments, old-school "filling stations/gas stations" at which you might rummage for a Coke in a cooler of ice: why, you can see it play out on a screen. And it was, indeed, made into a film entitled "They Live By Night" directed by Nicholas Ray.
Summary: 3.4. This is a nicely written character/atmosphere-driven work. I hope I can find this author's first novel, "Hungry Men." (Biographical notes from "American Noir of the 1930s and 1940s", edited by Robert Polito.)
October 6, 2015
This was a bit dull for crime noir. The bank jobs and jailbreaks (the exciting parts) are barely described compared to the tedium of hiding out, boring conversations, and general watching out the windows for the cops. I kept thinking how much I loved Jim Thompson's The Getaway in comparison.
Read in Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s & 40s collection from the library.
Read in Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s & 40s collection from the library.
November 5, 2021
Wow! What a great novel to find available cheap! Easy-to-read and, in my sight, fun – not fun in the sense of laugh-out-loud, but fun in the sense of gripping, well-written, and evocative of a now-lost era.
Available as a handsome-looking hardcover for those who have money to spare, but also as a cheap used paperback from a number of sources and, for me, a $4.99 Kindle download, which is closer what ebooks should cost, even if it means fewer space-tourism excursions for Mr. Bezos.
I downloaded a neat but spare edition (by which I mean, no typos or odd pagination, but also no historically-appropriate pictures, explanatory essays, or other bells and whistles) that proclaims itself to be a product of Pickle Partners Publishing, a name which said to me that it was far removed from the traditional centers of literary activity. This guess which turned out to be correct, literally, since Auckland, New Zealand, is about as far as you can get from, well, nearly all of the northern hemisphere, literary or no.
The web site of this company seems to have been established in late 2019 and then pretty much abandoned. Ditto Facebook page. It is seemingly still possible to find an eccentric variety of cut-rate ebooks from this source, many of them probably in the public domain. My personal favorite among these was a transcript of an address given by Grover Cleveland about good citizenship, a steal at 99 cents.
Oddly, though, this title was not listed on the Pickle Partners Publishing site. You can find it on Amazon.
I added this to my “to-read” list seven years ago, but this book recently came to attention again. I was invited to join a book group, and I ended up deciding that this would be my recommendation. The basis: the book is set in the region where the club members and I are now living, and because it is a good book. Stronger additional selling points were: it is inexpensive (see above), it is short, and there are two good quality Hollywood movie versions of this book for people who are too busy (or, dare I say it, lazy) to read the 171 pages themselves, but still wish to contribute while pounding back the Merlot with the club.
I was surprised to find the first movie version, made in 1948 and titled “They Live By Night”, available in its entirety for free viewing here, without even so much as a requirement to register. However, I've read that where I found it, French video hosting site Daily Motion, has repeatedly been in the soup for copyright violation, so that situation could change at any moment. The second version, made in 1974 and bearing the book's title, is (less surprisingly) available for viewing (for just a small payment to that nice Mr. Bezos) on Amazon Prime.
I read some less-than-enthusiastic reviews here at Goodreads that criticize the book for not being exciting enough, but what these reviewers see as a flaw I see as a strength and a deliberate choice by the author, that is, he chose not to glorify criminals. At the time of the book's publication, bank robbers received a lot of knuckleheaded glorification by mass media, while their actual lived experience was only slightly more daring than working at the local feed store. For every adrenaline-filled moment shouting “Stick 'em up!”, there were hours of listless staring out of windows, waiting for the results of the previous mayhem to cool off, often while listening to the radio and watching your unreliable partners in crime making unwise life choices under the influence of too much cut-rate alcohol. This harder-to-document aspect of the criminal life – the tedium – was neglected in much of the popular writing at the time, but Anderson wrote this book not solely to entertain.
Read a short appreciation and biographical sketch of Edward Anderson, published in the Los Angeles Times in 2008, here.
Available as a handsome-looking hardcover for those who have money to spare, but also as a cheap used paperback from a number of sources and, for me, a $4.99 Kindle download, which is closer what ebooks should cost, even if it means fewer space-tourism excursions for Mr. Bezos.
I downloaded a neat but spare edition (by which I mean, no typos or odd pagination, but also no historically-appropriate pictures, explanatory essays, or other bells and whistles) that proclaims itself to be a product of Pickle Partners Publishing, a name which said to me that it was far removed from the traditional centers of literary activity. This guess which turned out to be correct, literally, since Auckland, New Zealand, is about as far as you can get from, well, nearly all of the northern hemisphere, literary or no.
The web site of this company seems to have been established in late 2019 and then pretty much abandoned. Ditto Facebook page. It is seemingly still possible to find an eccentric variety of cut-rate ebooks from this source, many of them probably in the public domain. My personal favorite among these was a transcript of an address given by Grover Cleveland about good citizenship, a steal at 99 cents.
Oddly, though, this title was not listed on the Pickle Partners Publishing site. You can find it on Amazon.
I added this to my “to-read” list seven years ago, but this book recently came to attention again. I was invited to join a book group, and I ended up deciding that this would be my recommendation. The basis: the book is set in the region where the club members and I are now living, and because it is a good book. Stronger additional selling points were: it is inexpensive (see above), it is short, and there are two good quality Hollywood movie versions of this book for people who are too busy (or, dare I say it, lazy) to read the 171 pages themselves, but still wish to contribute while pounding back the Merlot with the club.
I was surprised to find the first movie version, made in 1948 and titled “They Live By Night”, available in its entirety for free viewing here, without even so much as a requirement to register. However, I've read that where I found it, French video hosting site Daily Motion, has repeatedly been in the soup for copyright violation, so that situation could change at any moment. The second version, made in 1974 and bearing the book's title, is (less surprisingly) available for viewing (for just a small payment to that nice Mr. Bezos) on Amazon Prime.
I read some less-than-enthusiastic reviews here at Goodreads that criticize the book for not being exciting enough, but what these reviewers see as a flaw I see as a strength and a deliberate choice by the author, that is, he chose not to glorify criminals. At the time of the book's publication, bank robbers received a lot of knuckleheaded glorification by mass media, while their actual lived experience was only slightly more daring than working at the local feed store. For every adrenaline-filled moment shouting “Stick 'em up!”, there were hours of listless staring out of windows, waiting for the results of the previous mayhem to cool off, often while listening to the radio and watching your unreliable partners in crime making unwise life choices under the influence of too much cut-rate alcohol. This harder-to-document aspect of the criminal life – the tedium – was neglected in much of the popular writing at the time, but Anderson wrote this book not solely to entertain.
Read a short appreciation and biographical sketch of Edward Anderson, published in the Los Angeles Times in 2008, here.
April 3, 2024
On and off over the 87 years since its publication this book has enjoyed periods when it extremely highly thought of, and others when it was out of print and forgotten.
Now, it does feel a bit dated, but its still interesting to know what all the fuss was about. Indeed it is still recognised as a ground-breaking piece of crime fiction.
Its a book that is very representative of the Depression, about desperate people doing whatever they need to in order to survive.
When it was first published, Anderson was compared to Faulkner and Hemingway, such was the hype. Twice it was adapted as a movie, though neither time very successful.
It is the story of three escaped convicts, Elmo 'Chicamaw' Mobley, T.W. 'T-Dub' Masefield and 'Bowie' Bowers. They break out of Alcatona, Oklamaha prison in 1935 when on a fishing trip, and return to the only life they know, bank hold-ups.
Bank robbery in the Depression was thought of differently; so many had lost so much in the crash that bankers were considered thieves. Bonnie and Clyde's first robbery was the year before. Just steal enough cash, then go straight. But that cash is spent before you know it, so another robbery beckons. And so on..
The press went crazy for these stories, especially if they involved young lovers on the lam.
That's the story here, but it is handled with great skill. When the boys decide on one last hold-up, we know trouble lies ahead. Anderson's real strength is writing dialogue. Much of it bears a second reading its so striking.
Now, it does feel a bit dated, but its still interesting to know what all the fuss was about. Indeed it is still recognised as a ground-breaking piece of crime fiction.
Its a book that is very representative of the Depression, about desperate people doing whatever they need to in order to survive.
When it was first published, Anderson was compared to Faulkner and Hemingway, such was the hype. Twice it was adapted as a movie, though neither time very successful.
It is the story of three escaped convicts, Elmo 'Chicamaw' Mobley, T.W. 'T-Dub' Masefield and 'Bowie' Bowers. They break out of Alcatona, Oklamaha prison in 1935 when on a fishing trip, and return to the only life they know, bank hold-ups.
Bank robbery in the Depression was thought of differently; so many had lost so much in the crash that bankers were considered thieves. Bonnie and Clyde's first robbery was the year before. Just steal enough cash, then go straight. But that cash is spent before you know it, so another robbery beckons. And so on..
The press went crazy for these stories, especially if they involved young lovers on the lam.
That's the story here, but it is handled with great skill. When the boys decide on one last hold-up, we know trouble lies ahead. Anderson's real strength is writing dialogue. Much of it bears a second reading its so striking.
March 19, 2018
This was one of my dad's books that I hung onto after he died in 1991. It sat unread on my shelf for over two decades, and I packed it up, and moved it - three times, at least. And now . . . I wonder why.
Anderson employs a strange writing style - it's mostly dialogue, with very little description. There are almost no details concerning the bank robberies; indeed, we learn about most of the "action" through the characters reading about the accounts in newspapers well after the fact. And there is WAY too much time spent on the mundane relationship between Keechie and Bowie. They talk nonstop, and spend lots of money on blankets.
And the big slam-bang ending? You guessed it - newspaper account.
Infuriating!
Anderson employs a strange writing style - it's mostly dialogue, with very little description. There are almost no details concerning the bank robberies; indeed, we learn about most of the "action" through the characters reading about the accounts in newspapers well after the fact. And there is WAY too much time spent on the mundane relationship between Keechie and Bowie. They talk nonstop, and spend lots of money on blankets.
And the big slam-bang ending? You guessed it - newspaper account.
Infuriating!
September 15, 2025
Another pulp fiction work from the 30s, three professional bank robbers join forces for a while and wind up dead or in trouble. The characters aren't the brightest to say the least, but they have some ethics, they only rob banks and not the little guys. Set in the South, there's a fair amount of nasty language, racial epitaphs, homophobia, etc. Overall not as dark as a James Cain novel, the robbers aren't total psychos, but there not as likable as some pulp detectives. The end is a bit like Bonny and Clyde but very short.
An interesting look at a pulp variation, there were two films made, so it must have been a bit popular in its day.
An interesting look at a pulp variation, there were two films made, so it must have been a bit popular in its day.
January 30, 2017
Rolled my eyes three times. Clunky hobo/wise guy dialogue detracts. Story line is good enough, the one redeeming feature.
October 3, 2015
Source novel for one of the classic film-noirs - They Live By Night - it is also a great depression-era period-piece. Think Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde robbing small town banks and you are in the groove. Bowie Bowers and two of his prison buds break out and then go back to robbing banks straight away. The other thread of this novel is Bowie's romance with Keechie. Bowie is always thinking about making one more score and then packing it in, and when he's with Keechie he starts making that new life, but this is noir and the sense of inevitability is pervasive, something even Bowie, who describes himself as a black sheep, feels. And he eventually pulls himself back into the criminal life with a suitable (noir) ending. Anderson's style is part Steinbeck and part Faulkner. At times objective, ranging everywhere, and then suddenly free-indirect and completely within Bowie's subjectivity. Anderson was a newspaperman and also uses faux-newspaper articles as a narrative device, both to give a sense of the crime spree from outside the character's perspective and also to show Bowie and the other character's reaction to the news. The romance part got a bit tedious at times but is essential for the complete character arc that gives the novel its depth..
April 5, 2008
Edward Anderson’s 1937 novel Thieves Like Us tells the story of Bowie Bowers, murderer and bank robber. Bowie breaks out of prison with two companions, and they carry out a series of daring bank robberies. They may not be intellectuals, but they’re not stupid. They’re smart enough to know that in a corrupt society politicians, police, lawyers and businessmen are all in their various ways just “thieves like us”. Lying low after a robbery, Bowie meets and falls in love with Keechie. Bowie is fundamentally a decent guy – he’s generous and loyal, and he never steals from anybody who is poor. But in the Depression years crime is the only option available to him. This is a crime novel, but it’s also in the tradition of American political novels like The Grapes of Wrath. Bowie and Keechie are wonderful creations – they’re complex characters with tangled motivations, people who know that the road they’re on can only lead to one disastrous, but unable to find a way to get off that road. This is a gripping read, but it’s also a rather moving book. Highly recommended.
January 1, 2015
I quite enjoyed this classic Crime Noir novel, which I read as part of the Library of America collection of American Noir of the 1930s &40s.
Characteristic of Noir, in Thieves Like Us, the protagonist Bowie Bowers is fighting a losing battle against a corrupt system and against himself. Watching him self-destruct is painful but also poignant as it reflects on the more tragic side of human existence.
I've found you either like Noir or you don't. It's not action packed, and there are no happy endings. And while the writing is often good, the story sometimes feels subtle or understated. Its strength is that it humanizes the "bad guy," and gives new meaning to the idiom "being your own worst enemy."
In the end, Noir illustrates the complexity of what it means to be human by blurring the lines between labels like "good" and "bad/evil." On that front, Thieves Like Us succeeds.
Characteristic of Noir, in Thieves Like Us, the protagonist Bowie Bowers is fighting a losing battle against a corrupt system and against himself. Watching him self-destruct is painful but also poignant as it reflects on the more tragic side of human existence.
I've found you either like Noir or you don't. It's not action packed, and there are no happy endings. And while the writing is often good, the story sometimes feels subtle or understated. Its strength is that it humanizes the "bad guy," and gives new meaning to the idiom "being your own worst enemy."
In the end, Noir illustrates the complexity of what it means to be human by blurring the lines between labels like "good" and "bad/evil." On that front, Thieves Like Us succeeds.
February 20, 2019
I read Thieves Like Us because it came with a recommendation from Raymond Chandler and in my book Chandler could do no wrong. Unfortunately I was wrong about Chandler and Chandler was wrong about this book. A really dated (even accounting for the fact it was written in 1937) crime story about a bunch of bank robbers never really gets going and reading it after eighty odd years just feels like a complete waste of time.
The first half about a bunch of escaped convicts on a bank robbing spree is more interesting than the second part dealing with a cheesy romance. The writing feels choppy and never made me invest in the characters. The protagonist Bowie Bowers is too immature to earn my sympathy and too inept for me to cheer for him. So it really falters when it tries to be a heartfelt tragedy, more action and less corny pining was the need of the hour. I also have no idea why this is called a noir, this is a gritty crime novel all right but that does not automatically make it a noir in my opinion.
Time has robbed Thieves Like Us of the only thing it could have conceivably possessed back when it was published - originality as I don't really see it ever having style or substance going for it. Too many authors have written too many versions of this story over the years with considerably more skill for this book to be of any interest to modern readers. Rating - 2/5.
The first half about a bunch of escaped convicts on a bank robbing spree is more interesting than the second part dealing with a cheesy romance. The writing feels choppy and never made me invest in the characters. The protagonist Bowie Bowers is too immature to earn my sympathy and too inept for me to cheer for him. So it really falters when it tries to be a heartfelt tragedy, more action and less corny pining was the need of the hour. I also have no idea why this is called a noir, this is a gritty crime novel all right but that does not automatically make it a noir in my opinion.
Time has robbed Thieves Like Us of the only thing it could have conceivably possessed back when it was published - originality as I don't really see it ever having style or substance going for it. Too many authors have written too many versions of this story over the years with considerably more skill for this book to be of any interest to modern readers. Rating - 2/5.
August 8, 2021
Although I can appreciate the gritty, dusty realism, the lefty message, and the hard-boiled, noir moments, this was not a great reading experience. With little description and lengthy, meandering, dull dialog, long sections of the book were tedious, leading only to an obvious and expected ending. Most of the action and excitement occurs off-stage. I did like the recurring motif of the title, as the three bank robbers view much of the straight world, bankers, police, lawyers, politicians, those in power, as all being "thieves like us." They're not wrong. Another interesting element is that although the saying is that there is "no honor among thieves," here the three bank robbers have a bond as a band of brothers and are loyal to each other through thick and thin. But the tone is fatalistic and we know just where they're heading. We also get a glimpse into the thinking and self-justification of the criminal world. Even so, by the end of the novel the characters still seemed simplistic and stereotyped. Made into two films, They Live by Night (1948) with Farley Granger, directed by Nicholas Ray (of Rebel Without a Cause fame) and Thieves Like Us (1974), with Shelly Duvall and Keith Carradine, directed by Robert Altman.
August 10, 2025
A classic from the 1930s where the bank robbers, whom we come to know quite well, repeatedly distance themselves from the “real thief’s” — the rich, the owners of capital and real estate — who “legally” plunder the common people. Thoughtful and rich in characterization.
March 20, 2017
Hardscrabble in West Texas, 1937
Among the most glamorized and followed criminals of the Great Depression were bank robbers. How people might have found anything admirable in these people—among them Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, a sprinkling of the better known bandits—should be no surprise to those who experienced the Great Recession. As Anderson’s Bowie Bowers observes, “Them capitalist fellows are thieves like us….They rob widows and orphans.” If you find yourself nodding in agreement with Bowie then you’ll want to join him, his young girlfriend Keechie and his brothers in crime T-Dub and Chicamaw as they pull off a series of successful bank robberies, battle the “Laws,” and traverse west Texas of the 1930s.
Like many, if not most, of noir crime fiction of the period, the nihilism of the characters and plot are nearly palpable from the first pages of Thieves Like Us. These outlaws regard themselves as a unique band of brothers, an A-team of thieves like none other. At the same time, they continually express the idea their robbery proceeds are a stake on a settled life of little care. Of course, the next job lures them, like the Sirens leading ancient sailors onto the shoals. And here the old saying, “No honor among thieves,” bears no weight as these fellows, particularly Bowie, prove themselves to be a loyal bunch to each other. Irony abounds in this notion, as loyalty leads to some pretty bad outcomes for these guys.
Within Anderson’s tale of life on adrenaline and thievery, readers will discover a love story, that between Bowie and Keechie. With Keechie beside him, Bowie manages to breakaway from the gang for a while. He and Keechie set up housekeeping in the hills of west Texas and New Orleans, fleeing when locals seem too suspicious of them, neither realizing that they are the subject of regular newspaper features, much like Bonnie and Clyde, but also because Bowie can’t help acting out his aggression in even trivial confrontations; Anderson strikes a fine balance of innocence and viciousness in his Bowie.
Naturally, in period fiction as this, and especially in one heavily intertwined with fatalism, things can’t be expected to workout for the best, at least not best for characters like Bowie and Keechie. How the wheels come off the getaway car is left for readers to discover for themselves.
Notable for the way Anderson’s story rings with veracity (he based his novel on an interview with his cousin, Roy Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for armed robbery) and the effective use of argot, now pretty much extinct, which proves transportive.
There have been a couple of film adaptations, in 1948 as They Live By Night and Robert Altman’s Thieves Like Us 1974 adaptation.
Among the most glamorized and followed criminals of the Great Depression were bank robbers. How people might have found anything admirable in these people—among them Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, a sprinkling of the better known bandits—should be no surprise to those who experienced the Great Recession. As Anderson’s Bowie Bowers observes, “Them capitalist fellows are thieves like us….They rob widows and orphans.” If you find yourself nodding in agreement with Bowie then you’ll want to join him, his young girlfriend Keechie and his brothers in crime T-Dub and Chicamaw as they pull off a series of successful bank robberies, battle the “Laws,” and traverse west Texas of the 1930s.
Like many, if not most, of noir crime fiction of the period, the nihilism of the characters and plot are nearly palpable from the first pages of Thieves Like Us. These outlaws regard themselves as a unique band of brothers, an A-team of thieves like none other. At the same time, they continually express the idea their robbery proceeds are a stake on a settled life of little care. Of course, the next job lures them, like the Sirens leading ancient sailors onto the shoals. And here the old saying, “No honor among thieves,” bears no weight as these fellows, particularly Bowie, prove themselves to be a loyal bunch to each other. Irony abounds in this notion, as loyalty leads to some pretty bad outcomes for these guys.
Within Anderson’s tale of life on adrenaline and thievery, readers will discover a love story, that between Bowie and Keechie. With Keechie beside him, Bowie manages to breakaway from the gang for a while. He and Keechie set up housekeeping in the hills of west Texas and New Orleans, fleeing when locals seem too suspicious of them, neither realizing that they are the subject of regular newspaper features, much like Bonnie and Clyde, but also because Bowie can’t help acting out his aggression in even trivial confrontations; Anderson strikes a fine balance of innocence and viciousness in his Bowie.
Naturally, in period fiction as this, and especially in one heavily intertwined with fatalism, things can’t be expected to workout for the best, at least not best for characters like Bowie and Keechie. How the wheels come off the getaway car is left for readers to discover for themselves.
Notable for the way Anderson’s story rings with veracity (he based his novel on an interview with his cousin, Roy Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for armed robbery) and the effective use of argot, now pretty much extinct, which proves transportive.
There have been a couple of film adaptations, in 1948 as They Live By Night and Robert Altman’s Thieves Like Us 1974 adaptation.
June 21, 2010
Raymond Chandler declared this one of the great forgotten novels of the 1930s. I'm not going to argue with Chandler.
Anderson gives us a look at depression era bank robbers in Oklahoma and Texas. It was fertile ground with Bonnie & Clyde, Dillinger, et. al. having been all over the newspapers. Anderson looks at a trio of escaped convicts who are robbing banks in Texas, before shifting the focus to a single character Bowie Bowers. The shift allows us to get a better glimpse in to the thought processes of the character, something that wouldn't have been possible with three protagonists in such a short novel.
There is a bit of a working class cant that the robberies are justified because the banks can afford it. The bankers, lawyers, police are "thieves like us."
An unfairly forgotten proto-noir. Thanks to the Library of America for making it readily available.
Anderson gives us a look at depression era bank robbers in Oklahoma and Texas. It was fertile ground with Bonnie & Clyde, Dillinger, et. al. having been all over the newspapers. Anderson looks at a trio of escaped convicts who are robbing banks in Texas, before shifting the focus to a single character Bowie Bowers. The shift allows us to get a better glimpse in to the thought processes of the character, something that wouldn't have been possible with three protagonists in such a short novel.
There is a bit of a working class cant that the robberies are justified because the banks can afford it. The bankers, lawyers, police are "thieves like us."
An unfairly forgotten proto-noir. Thanks to the Library of America for making it readily available.
May 15, 2025
https://youtu.be/w8X8lLxsRe4?si=97x10...
Certainly one of the best early crime novels. The “ripped from the headlines” sense is built with the newspaper articles, and Keechie & Bowie are a strong fictional counterpart to the real life Bonnie & Clyde. Anderson seems sympathetic to the desperation by rural poor against legal thieves: politicians, bankers, lawyers, etc. who are “thieves like us”. The signal drawback to the novel is the juvenile mind of Bowie, the limited POV we are given. Anderson has some marvelous passages, but Bowie’s mind being our only window into the world carries an automatic limitation.
Certainly one of the best early crime novels. The “ripped from the headlines” sense is built with the newspaper articles, and Keechie & Bowie are a strong fictional counterpart to the real life Bonnie & Clyde. Anderson seems sympathetic to the desperation by rural poor against legal thieves: politicians, bankers, lawyers, etc. who are “thieves like us”. The signal drawback to the novel is the juvenile mind of Bowie, the limited POV we are given. Anderson has some marvelous passages, but Bowie’s mind being our only window into the world carries an automatic limitation.
June 3, 2022
I can’t quite pinpoint what it is about noir that always resonates with me. The simple, raw storylines? Protagonists who, as anti-heroes, construct their own moral code amidst their bleak, beautiful surroundings? Or maybe it’s that noir touches the dreamy nonconformist in all of us, rebelling against authorities and social strictures. Whatever it is, I can’t get enough.
I’ve made my way through Chandler, Hammett, etc. and am halfway through Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series. I dug a little deeper into seminal works in the genre and came upon Anderson’s 1937 novel. It’s dynamite.
I don’t guess I could have done anything else except what I have…What will be, will be.
Anderson smoothly conveys the fatalistic flair of Bowie, the youngest of the “thieves”, as he navigates a world of crime. Even the love he finds with his Little Soldier Keechie, who doesn’t “know what other women do,” only what she does, can’t appease the restlessness. The language and cadence of the conversations are supreme. And the ending? No ‘sta bien.
I’ve made my way through Chandler, Hammett, etc. and am halfway through Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series. I dug a little deeper into seminal works in the genre and came upon Anderson’s 1937 novel. It’s dynamite.
I don’t guess I could have done anything else except what I have…What will be, will be.
Anderson smoothly conveys the fatalistic flair of Bowie, the youngest of the “thieves”, as he navigates a world of crime. Even the love he finds with his Little Soldier Keechie, who doesn’t “know what other women do,” only what she does, can’t appease the restlessness. The language and cadence of the conversations are supreme. And the ending? No ‘sta bien.
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