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Beggars of Life
A bestseller in 1924, this vivid piece of outlaw history has inexplicably faded from the public consciousness. Jim Tully takes us across the seamy underbelly of pre-WWI America on freight trains, and inside hobo jungles and brothels while narrowly averting railroad bulls (cops) and wardens of order. Written with unflinching honesty and insight, Beggars of Life follows Tully from his first ride at age thirteen, choosing life on the road over a deadening job, through his teenage years of learning the ropes of the rails and -living one meal to the next. Tully’s direct, confrontational approach helped shape the hard-boiled school of writing, and later immeasurably influenced the noir genre. Beggars of Life was the first in Tully’s five-volume memoir, dubbed the "Underworld Edition," recalling his transformation from road-kid to novelist, journalist, Hollywood columnist, chain maker, boxer, circus handyman, and tree surgeon. Jim Tully (1891–1947) was a best-selling novelist and popular Hollywood journalist in the 1920s and ’30s. Known as "Cincinnati Red" during his years as a road-kid, he counted prizefighter and publicist of Charlie Chaplin among his many jobs. He is considered (with Dashiel Hammett) one of the inventors of the hard-boiled style of American writing. In Oakland, California on March 24, 2015 a fire destroyed the AK Press warehouse along with several other businesses. Please consider visiting the AK Press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1924
24 people are currently reading
727 people want to read
About the author
Jim Tully
58 books22 followersJim Tully was an American vagabond, pugilist, and writer. He enjoyed critical and commercial success as a writer in the 1920s and 1930s.
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April 3, 2025
Mar 27, 1144am ~~ Review asap.
Apr 2, 630pm ~~ It was January 2025. I was reading an autobiography written by James Cagney, called (oddly enough) Cagney by Cagney. He was speaking at one point about a play based on Jim Tully's book Beggars Of Life. The author's name rang a little bell deep inside my mental book stacks. I checked my list and sure enough, I still had my copy of Tully's later book Circus Parade, an edition I had found at a library book sale more than a few years ago.
When I investigated Tully a bit more at wiki I learned that he was quite popular back in his day: although his work was considered raw and shocking, many critics appreciated his style. According to Wiki: Rupert Hughes . . . wrote that Tully "has fathered the school of hard-boiled writing so zealously cultivated by Ernest Hemingway and lesser luminaries."
When I read that wiki entry I was just a few weeks into a leisurely buddy read of Death In The Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway. Reading that Hughes quote made me want to read Tully again but I wanted to read Beggars Of Life before Circus Parade, so I ordered the book, read it and here we are. Finally.
Tully was 15 years old when he began riding the rails. That was in 1901. Life on the road was not pretty. It was rough, dirty, and dangerous. The words used to describe what he saw and experienced in those years are also rough and certainly not politically correct for readers of our day. If that fact bothers you, don't read the book.
But if you have ever wondered what life was really like for the men who chose for whatever reason to live on the road, this is the book for you. You will feel the wind in your face while you balance on the tops of freight cars. You will feel the sting of rocks smacking into your body when you are underneath another freight car clinging for dear life to the rods. You will have a sense of the hobo brotherhood and learn some of its rules and secrets, which will help you survive each day.
This book felt special to me because my own grandfather had a road adventure of his own. But I only knew the headlines of his story. This book made me realize how much more was involved when he left the one-room school at age 14 in the year 1903. He followed the crops out West, began getting work as a short-order cook (which in the future helped him meet my grandmother: he used to give her 10-cent sandwiches for just 5 cents) and he missed by one day the boat that would have landed him in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake. Grandpa was not a career hobo like most of the men in Tully's book, though. He returned to Iowa and became a city bus driver in Davenport, retiring 35 years later.
I jumped from this book to Circus Parade, and I am about to jump from this review to a review of that book. And I am not quite done with Jim Tully yet: I ordered a biography, which I plan to read as soon as it arrives.
As for the idea of comparing Tully's writing style to Hemingway's? All I can say, on my limited experience of two Tully books versus two of Hemingway's is that with Tully I never had a sense of him doing anything but telling his story in a direct, lively and captivating manner. He did not give me the idea that he was looking down on his readers or anyone else in his world, he was just being himself and quite frankly, I would rather sit with Tully in an open boxcar than spend time with EH anywhere.
Apr 2, 630pm ~~ It was January 2025. I was reading an autobiography written by James Cagney, called (oddly enough) Cagney by Cagney. He was speaking at one point about a play based on Jim Tully's book Beggars Of Life. The author's name rang a little bell deep inside my mental book stacks. I checked my list and sure enough, I still had my copy of Tully's later book Circus Parade, an edition I had found at a library book sale more than a few years ago.
When I investigated Tully a bit more at wiki I learned that he was quite popular back in his day: although his work was considered raw and shocking, many critics appreciated his style. According to Wiki: Rupert Hughes . . . wrote that Tully "has fathered the school of hard-boiled writing so zealously cultivated by Ernest Hemingway and lesser luminaries."
When I read that wiki entry I was just a few weeks into a leisurely buddy read of Death In The Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway. Reading that Hughes quote made me want to read Tully again but I wanted to read Beggars Of Life before Circus Parade, so I ordered the book, read it and here we are. Finally.
Tully was 15 years old when he began riding the rails. That was in 1901. Life on the road was not pretty. It was rough, dirty, and dangerous. The words used to describe what he saw and experienced in those years are also rough and certainly not politically correct for readers of our day. If that fact bothers you, don't read the book.
But if you have ever wondered what life was really like for the men who chose for whatever reason to live on the road, this is the book for you. You will feel the wind in your face while you balance on the tops of freight cars. You will feel the sting of rocks smacking into your body when you are underneath another freight car clinging for dear life to the rods. You will have a sense of the hobo brotherhood and learn some of its rules and secrets, which will help you survive each day.
This book felt special to me because my own grandfather had a road adventure of his own. But I only knew the headlines of his story. This book made me realize how much more was involved when he left the one-room school at age 14 in the year 1903. He followed the crops out West, began getting work as a short-order cook (which in the future helped him meet my grandmother: he used to give her 10-cent sandwiches for just 5 cents) and he missed by one day the boat that would have landed him in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake. Grandpa was not a career hobo like most of the men in Tully's book, though. He returned to Iowa and became a city bus driver in Davenport, retiring 35 years later.
I jumped from this book to Circus Parade, and I am about to jump from this review to a review of that book. And I am not quite done with Jim Tully yet: I ordered a biography, which I plan to read as soon as it arrives.
As for the idea of comparing Tully's writing style to Hemingway's? All I can say, on my limited experience of two Tully books versus two of Hemingway's is that with Tully I never had a sense of him doing anything but telling his story in a direct, lively and captivating manner. He did not give me the idea that he was looking down on his readers or anyone else in his world, he was just being himself and quite frankly, I would rather sit with Tully in an open boxcar than spend time with EH anywhere.
May 18, 2013
I am a big fan of the Hobo literature - especially autobiographical works. The publisher is Nabat Books. They specialize in "reprinting forgotten memoirs". I really liked another of their books about riding the rails called You Can't Win by Jack Black.
The writing by Jim Tully about his adventures on the rails is great stuff. Combined with hair raising, first person accounts of mishaps, mayhem and murder, it makes the book a first rate read.
The writing by Jim Tully about his adventures on the rails is great stuff. Combined with hair raising, first person accounts of mishaps, mayhem and murder, it makes the book a first rate read.
December 28, 2019
This was published by NaBat Books - they publish anti-establishment/anti-booshwazee publications by the likes of Noam Chomsky, the brilliant Jack Black, Kathy Acker, et al.
My edition has an introduction by the original Man-In-Black, Charles Willeford and contains a small bit of biographical info on Jim Tully.
"Jim" - never James. "They call servants 'James'."
This page-turner reads a bit antiquated but no more so than say Dashiell Hammett or Damon Runyon (one of Tully's champions back in the 20's).
It's an account of Tully's life after running away from an orphanage where he was hired out as farm-hand to an insane, alcoholic farmer.
He takes to the rails after meeting a young hobo with an eye-patch (he'd lost an eye during a brawl somewhere outside of Little Rock, Arkansas) while strolling the streets of St. Mary's, Ohio. The eye-patch kid (near Tully's own age) tells of the wonders of riding the rails and of all the adventures that await any teenager plagued by wanderlust.
There are some extremely tough, possibly even disturbing sequences in this book but it is written with a Beat poet's flair. It's hardboiled and avoids being flighty or flowery though at times Tully veers dangerously close when, for instance, he rhapsodizes over the virtues and kindnesses shown the down and out bum by the Sisters of the Red Light.
Loved this book.
My edition has an introduction by the original Man-In-Black, Charles Willeford and contains a small bit of biographical info on Jim Tully.
"Jim" - never James. "They call servants 'James'."
This page-turner reads a bit antiquated but no more so than say Dashiell Hammett or Damon Runyon (one of Tully's champions back in the 20's).
It's an account of Tully's life after running away from an orphanage where he was hired out as farm-hand to an insane, alcoholic farmer.
He takes to the rails after meeting a young hobo with an eye-patch (he'd lost an eye during a brawl somewhere outside of Little Rock, Arkansas) while strolling the streets of St. Mary's, Ohio. The eye-patch kid (near Tully's own age) tells of the wonders of riding the rails and of all the adventures that await any teenager plagued by wanderlust.
There are some extremely tough, possibly even disturbing sequences in this book but it is written with a Beat poet's flair. It's hardboiled and avoids being flighty or flowery though at times Tully veers dangerously close when, for instance, he rhapsodizes over the virtues and kindnesses shown the down and out bum by the Sisters of the Red Light.
Loved this book.
August 6, 2019
Interesting tales but it is obvious the writer is self taught as the story lurches from once place to the next with no end in sight & very plain language. Read this as the 1928 film version (starring Louise Brooks & Wallace Beery) is showing on a big screen here in November. Let’s hope the movie’s better.
April 4, 2025
If this is freedom you can have it. This book depicts a subset of vagrants who chose the life because they truly disliked the thought of suffocating in a small town more. Tully, who is unusual in that he eventually became somewhat successful, was not one of those people you heard about who "rode the rails" to procure work during the Depression. First of all, Tully wrote this in the 1920s and was talking about 1900-1910 (it's tough to pin down the exact timeframe because hoboes didn't follow the news). Most were not even safecrackers (ie. "yeggs"), the nobility of the vagrant universe.
If it were not for sleeping outdoors in all kinds of terrible weather; getting beat up by railroad police; losing your footing on train ladders and getting dragged; losing all your teeth in fights; and generally witnessing the worst sides of humanity (lynchings etc.), I could see the appeal of not having to answer to the man. Easy Rider it is not.
The only other thing close to this that I know of is You Can't Win by Jack Black. He was not as talented a writer, but his adventures were more varied and (as alluded to before) he was a professional criminal, meaning that he usually had enough money to avoid the hobo "jungles."
Recommended for anyone who thinks that this country has only recently fallen into a cesspool of immorality and vice. It's pretty amazing that Tully ended up working with people like Charlie Chaplin and writing celebrity profiles that tended to be more truthful than usual. I would be interested to know exactly how he made that transition.
If it were not for sleeping outdoors in all kinds of terrible weather; getting beat up by railroad police; losing your footing on train ladders and getting dragged; losing all your teeth in fights; and generally witnessing the worst sides of humanity (lynchings etc.), I could see the appeal of not having to answer to the man. Easy Rider it is not.
The only other thing close to this that I know of is You Can't Win by Jack Black. He was not as talented a writer, but his adventures were more varied and (as alluded to before) he was a professional criminal, meaning that he usually had enough money to avoid the hobo "jungles."
Recommended for anyone who thinks that this country has only recently fallen into a cesspool of immorality and vice. It's pretty amazing that Tully ended up working with people like Charlie Chaplin and writing celebrity profiles that tended to be more truthful than usual. I would be interested to know exactly how he made that transition.
June 23, 2014
I actually have an original 1924 version of this book! (yes, just had to say)
This is one of my all time favorite books. I love reading about the old hobo lifestyle and this is one of the best books on the subject.
The book can be enjoyed from multiple perspectives. It's just a good adventure yarn, with tight prose and a gritty atmosphere. It's also fascinating as a historical account of America.
On both levels and others, I love this book.
This is one of my all time favorite books. I love reading about the old hobo lifestyle and this is one of the best books on the subject.
The book can be enjoyed from multiple perspectives. It's just a good adventure yarn, with tight prose and a gritty atmosphere. It's also fascinating as a historical account of America.
On both levels and others, I love this book.
August 19, 2021
For most of my life in my idle moments (usually when I'm at work) I have dreamed of one of two alternative lives I might possibly have lived.
Life number one is me in ragged white trousers, a torn white shirt and a battered straw hat beachcombing on some Pacific Island, drinking straight from the bottle and causing no end of gentle trouble for the local governor.
Life number two is me in a ragged suit of clothes, a slightly squashed top hat riding the rails in a depression era America.
I blame both these dreams on films making actually squalid lives look so romantic but anyway.
Beggars of Life is the memoir of Jim Tully who spent some of his early years as a hobo hopping freight trains and begging for food at back doors in small town America.
It's an episodic book, characters come and go and minor adventures succeed each other with little reference to each other.
The tone is matter of fact throughout, Tully never apologises or excuses stealing, never attempts to justify apparent bad behaviour other than by saying life as a hobo is tough.
There is a gruesome and unheralded lynching at the end of one chapter that genuinely horrifies but that too is treated in a matter of fact way. This unsentimental treatment of some pretty unpleasant happenings and hardships actually works although you have to put it in context of its age otherwise you might find some of the language used too much.
On the whole it hasn't quite ruined my dreams of life as a hobo but, they were only ever dreams to begin with.
It was adapted into a stage play which in turn appeared as a silent film starring Wallace Beery and Louise Brooks but the incidents in the book are mixed up and rearranged for the film.
Life number one is me in ragged white trousers, a torn white shirt and a battered straw hat beachcombing on some Pacific Island, drinking straight from the bottle and causing no end of gentle trouble for the local governor.
Life number two is me in a ragged suit of clothes, a slightly squashed top hat riding the rails in a depression era America.
I blame both these dreams on films making actually squalid lives look so romantic but anyway.
Beggars of Life is the memoir of Jim Tully who spent some of his early years as a hobo hopping freight trains and begging for food at back doors in small town America.
It's an episodic book, characters come and go and minor adventures succeed each other with little reference to each other.
The tone is matter of fact throughout, Tully never apologises or excuses stealing, never attempts to justify apparent bad behaviour other than by saying life as a hobo is tough.
There is a gruesome and unheralded lynching at the end of one chapter that genuinely horrifies but that too is treated in a matter of fact way. This unsentimental treatment of some pretty unpleasant happenings and hardships actually works although you have to put it in context of its age otherwise you might find some of the language used too much.
On the whole it hasn't quite ruined my dreams of life as a hobo but, they were only ever dreams to begin with.
It was adapted into a stage play which in turn appeared as a silent film starring Wallace Beery and Louise Brooks but the incidents in the book are mixed up and rearranged for the film.
May 10, 2024
A biography of Robert Mitchum included the name of Jim Tully, the son of poor Irish immigrants who rode the rails in his youth and became famous in the 1920s as the "Hobo writer." Mitchum spent many hours at the New York Library devouring fine literature and Tully was his favorite writer. He is now one of mine.
"Sinuous bodies of young women glided over the floor. They were guided by the hands of pickpockets and pimps, bartenders and ward heelers, and all that gentry whose hearts were soft, but whose way of life was hard." This is an example of Tully's language as he described the celebration of an extremely crooked election in Chicago.
At fifteen, Jim Tully left home and road the rails over the course of the next few years. The language is vivid and unforgiving and my personal favorite chapter is about a woman named Edna who was raped at fourteen by both her father and brother. She shot them dead and used her earnings as a prostitute to pay the lawyer who had won an acquittal at trial.
Next up for me will be a 2011 biography in order to learn more about a largely forgotten genius.
"Sinuous bodies of young women glided over the floor. They were guided by the hands of pickpockets and pimps, bartenders and ward heelers, and all that gentry whose hearts were soft, but whose way of life was hard." This is an example of Tully's language as he described the celebration of an extremely crooked election in Chicago.
At fifteen, Jim Tully left home and road the rails over the course of the next few years. The language is vivid and unforgiving and my personal favorite chapter is about a woman named Edna who was raped at fourteen by both her father and brother. She shot them dead and used her earnings as a prostitute to pay the lawyer who had won an acquittal at trial.
Next up for me will be a 2011 biography in order to learn more about a largely forgotten genius.
June 21, 2024
Jim Tully recounts his years as a hobo in "Beggars of Life." It is a brutally honest account of life on the rails and was a best-seller in 1924. Today, it seems painfully too real. People who want to clean up "Huckleberry Finn" should stay far away. However, we shouldn't let modern sensibilities erase the truth of the past and that truth includes a lot of racism, misogyny and violence. How can we measure how far we've come if we don't know where we've been? Thankfully for the author, there was also a lot of kindness and generosity that kept his body and soul alive.
That said, it was an interesting book, and you can easily spot Tully's influences from the library books he stole. My favorite chapter, "Kangaroo Court" could have come from the pen of Mark Twain.
That said, it was an interesting book, and you can easily spot Tully's influences from the library books he stole. My favorite chapter, "Kangaroo Court" could have come from the pen of Mark Twain.
Read
February 23, 2024An interesting study of hobohemia, offering a side of the life that is balanced and blunt.
February 6, 2021
I enjoyed this book a lot. Jim Tully is a fantastic story teller and this book is filled with little anecdotes about his life on the road as a young hobo and the interesting people he meets along the way. I give it 5 stars and put it on my best reads pile. It transported me to a different time which seemed very cruel and violent in some ways and simpler and kinder in others.
Warning: This book was written in 1924 so is filled with the colorful language and slang of the hobos and yeggs of the time. Some of it is problematic by today's standards. Despite this fact, I really loved the writing style and the book. The way that he turned a phrase was absolutely brilliant at times.
I will seek out more of this author's writing. I highly recommend if you enjoy these types of slice of life stories filled with colorful characters.
Warning: This book was written in 1924 so is filled with the colorful language and slang of the hobos and yeggs of the time. Some of it is problematic by today's standards. Despite this fact, I really loved the writing style and the book. The way that he turned a phrase was absolutely brilliant at times.
I will seek out more of this author's writing. I highly recommend if you enjoy these types of slice of life stories filled with colorful characters.
February 8, 2013
"Tramping in the wild and windy places, without money, food, or shelter, was better for me than supinely bowing to any conventional decree of fate. The road gave me one jewel beyond price, the leisure to read and dream. If it made me old and wearily wise at twenty, it gave me for companions the great minds of all the ages, who talked to me with royal words."
"A kind heart is a sad heritage of which all the ills of life do not rob a person."
"A kind heart is a sad heritage of which all the ills of life do not rob a person."
January 22, 2023
Written in 1924 by a former orphan turned hobo, the stories are amazing to me. A similar book I really enjoyed was Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move in the Great Depression. These are stories of desperation, resourcefulness, kindness, and tragedy.
June 28, 2016
Being on the road with the hoboes and tramps. Living the life jumping on and off passing trains.
December 17, 2019
An autobiographical romp of the nearly forgotten writer Jim Tully who started his formative years as a tramp riding the rails, dodging railroad detectives, and begging for food on every stop. Tully is considered the co-father, along with Dashiell Hammet, of hard boiled literature. He writes with a blunt, brutal style, occasionally mixing in similes to offset the amoral attitude of the author and his companions. This is the first in the author’s five volume autobiographical underworld collection.
It is in itself a slice of life of a long dead slice of Americana. An underground society that no longer really exists. Showing the inner workings of the transient hobo society pre-WWI. Its vagaries, brief friendships, and the often violent encounters between hobos and regular society and amongst themselves.
He describes the three different strata of the drifter class in those days. The hobos who were poorly paid workers, field hands, who drifted from one poorly paid harvesting season to the next, and who rode the rails clandestinely to save money. The bums who were pure beggars, inclined to do as little work as possible (which describes the author). And the yeggs, the criminals, who went about breaking safes and robbing at every stop. The yegg were at the top of the pecking order, as they usually had the most money and were the most willing to beat down anyone who opposed them.
It has no true plot and is strung together as a series of vignettes of the author’s remembrances from the road. This is presumably because he did very little but beg, hop trains, and read books stolen from public libraries. There are several other characters whose background he describes in detail, but only a few. The author didn’t seem particularly friendly to others.
It is in itself a slice of life of a long dead slice of Americana. An underground society that no longer really exists. Showing the inner workings of the transient hobo society pre-WWI. Its vagaries, brief friendships, and the often violent encounters between hobos and regular society and amongst themselves.
He describes the three different strata of the drifter class in those days. The hobos who were poorly paid workers, field hands, who drifted from one poorly paid harvesting season to the next, and who rode the rails clandestinely to save money. The bums who were pure beggars, inclined to do as little work as possible (which describes the author). And the yeggs, the criminals, who went about breaking safes and robbing at every stop. The yegg were at the top of the pecking order, as they usually had the most money and were the most willing to beat down anyone who opposed them.
It has no true plot and is strung together as a series of vignettes of the author’s remembrances from the road. This is presumably because he did very little but beg, hop trains, and read books stolen from public libraries. There are several other characters whose background he describes in detail, but only a few. The author didn’t seem particularly friendly to others.
July 19, 2019
"Je préférais vagabonder dans des lieux sauvages et battus par tous les vents, sans un sou, sans abri et sans rien à manger, plutôt que de courber l'échine devant les décrets du destin."
Le hobo, c'est cette figure légendaire de la littérature américaine, un sans-abri qui arpente le pays en brûlant le dur, se cachant dans des trains de marchandise, vivant de travaux manuels saisonniers ou de la charité des autres. Et le train est bien le personnage secondaire dans cette autobiographie qui nous présente le mode de vie de ces vagabonds du rail, les jungles dans lesquelles ils vivotent, leur démêlés fréquents avec la justice. Lors de son vagabondage, Jim rencontre des esclaves lynchés, des prostituées au grand coeur, des drogués, des orphelins, de jeunes délinquants rescapés des maisons de redressement, des fous, des malades. C'est la société américaine des laissés-pour-compte, du racisme, de la charité, de la trahison et de l'injustice. Jim y fait non seulement l'apprentissage de la vie mais également celle de l'écriture. Il chipote des livres à la bibliothèque, dévore Dostoïevski, Gorki, Keats, Johnson, Boswell. Et dénonce de manière subtile les conditions de vie dans les pénitenciers de l'époque.
Un livre intéressant sur la vie de ces vagabonds du rail où transparaît souvent cette formidable soif de liberté et d'indépendance qui leur fait préférer cette vie précaire aux maisons chauffées.
Le hobo, c'est cette figure légendaire de la littérature américaine, un sans-abri qui arpente le pays en brûlant le dur, se cachant dans des trains de marchandise, vivant de travaux manuels saisonniers ou de la charité des autres. Et le train est bien le personnage secondaire dans cette autobiographie qui nous présente le mode de vie de ces vagabonds du rail, les jungles dans lesquelles ils vivotent, leur démêlés fréquents avec la justice. Lors de son vagabondage, Jim rencontre des esclaves lynchés, des prostituées au grand coeur, des drogués, des orphelins, de jeunes délinquants rescapés des maisons de redressement, des fous, des malades. C'est la société américaine des laissés-pour-compte, du racisme, de la charité, de la trahison et de l'injustice. Jim y fait non seulement l'apprentissage de la vie mais également celle de l'écriture. Il chipote des livres à la bibliothèque, dévore Dostoïevski, Gorki, Keats, Johnson, Boswell. Et dénonce de manière subtile les conditions de vie dans les pénitenciers de l'époque.
Un livre intéressant sur la vie de ces vagabonds du rail où transparaît souvent cette formidable soif de liberté et d'indépendance qui leur fait préférer cette vie précaire aux maisons chauffées.
October 30, 2017
I read Beggars of Life to understand what it would be like to go anywhere, anytime, with no thought of money or job or home. To be the complete antithesis of myself, a worrier. And Jim Tully told me in his strong tale of wanderlust--at one point, Jim has both typhoid and malaria, and when he gets well, he wanders again!
The physical strength and determination to to ride the rails was beyond impressive, as was his acceptance of the people he met along the way, the beggar, the thief, the drug addict. And like Christ, he saved his disfavor for the judgmental, the hypocrite.
Jim Tully's book is an example of why I love to read. I could immerse myself in someone else's world; I felt the wind and the soot in my eyes while holding on to the side of a train; saw the beautiful sun and moon rises; felt empathy and understanding for the author, an unwanted orphan. I don't believe any other medium can do this, not film or the arts, only writing.
If you don't read the book, you should at least google Jim Tully to see what a fantastical life he had.
The physical strength and determination to to ride the rails was beyond impressive, as was his acceptance of the people he met along the way, the beggar, the thief, the drug addict. And like Christ, he saved his disfavor for the judgmental, the hypocrite.
Jim Tully's book is an example of why I love to read. I could immerse myself in someone else's world; I felt the wind and the soot in my eyes while holding on to the side of a train; saw the beautiful sun and moon rises; felt empathy and understanding for the author, an unwanted orphan. I don't believe any other medium can do this, not film or the arts, only writing.
If you don't read the book, you should at least google Jim Tully to see what a fantastical life he had.
April 26, 2018
I don't know what to think about this book. I am satisfied that I read it; however, I do not think it was a great book. I think Tully too influenced by Jack London. It is raw and grittier than London could do, but I have the impression he writing for teenage boys. I guess my best comment is to say that I am not moved to read Emmett Lawyer or Tully's other books.
December 29, 2024
the adventures of bums, tramps, hobos and (my favourite) yeggs interest me beyond measure. what stories compare to that of a bunch of smelly vagabonds coming to blows over a mulligan. if only all of these rail adventures lived long enough to write a book.
December 26, 2017
A nice read, considering it was written in the 1920s!
April 16, 2023
4.1 Stars
Milton
Milton
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2024
Hermosa descripción de lo que es un "Vagabundo"...
July 11, 2024
Fast read
Good hobo book
Good hobo book
September 16, 2024
solid book filled with an older americana that is almost pastiche now but i gotta say my copy that was annotated was hilarious since whoever was readin it had some similarities to tully haha.
February 3, 2025
No esperaba mucho de este libro, lo compre porque estaba barato y me gusto su diseño (e incluía un marca páginas igual de bonito). Pero me sorprendió para bien, y más aún cuando leí la historia del autor y se deja en claro que es prácticamente autobiográfica.
Incluso me dieron ganas de ser vagabundo de trenes en EEUU a inicios de siglo
⭐️4.3
Incluso me dieron ganas de ser vagabundo de trenes en EEUU a inicios de siglo
⭐️4.3
August 14, 2011
Better known for his biography of Chaplin (Chaplin sued for 1/2m dollars and lost - this book is dedicated partly to him) and his first novel "Emmett Lawler" (which started as a 100,000 word paragraph, no-one had taught him punctuation), this book was the first of Tully's autobiographical sequence of books, his "Underworld Edition" (with "Shanty Irish", "Circus Parade", "Shadows of Men" and "Blood on the Moon" following) and tells of his early life as a youth deciding to see the world, riding the trainlines, as a migratory worker aka a Hobo. With Dashiell Hammett he was one of the creators of "hard-boiled fiction".
The book tells of his learning of the Hobo trade and trails, the trials he must go through and the friends he makes with other Hobo's, Tramps and Yeggs as he crosses from Cinncinati to Dakota to Chicago, DC, Boston, New Orleans and Texas before crossing to Los Angeles.
A bit more ego-centric than other books of the ilk, but the heart and mind are still in the right place. I still prefer Jack Black's travails in "You can't win" but maybe i'll change my mind if/when I read the other 4 books in the edition.
The book tells of his learning of the Hobo trade and trails, the trials he must go through and the friends he makes with other Hobo's, Tramps and Yeggs as he crosses from Cinncinati to Dakota to Chicago, DC, Boston, New Orleans and Texas before crossing to Los Angeles.
A bit more ego-centric than other books of the ilk, but the heart and mind are still in the right place. I still prefer Jack Black's travails in "You can't win" but maybe i'll change my mind if/when I read the other 4 books in the edition.
August 10, 2008
For thesis research...
Not much to use here for my thesis. Oh, that's right, I'm done with my thesis... Yes, but I am continuing the research as I'm converting my thesis into a nonfiction book on The American Road Novel. But who cares about this? Back to the book. There's some good anecdotal stories here but not much for plot; the chapters are snapshots of a life on the rods tied up in the end with a bit of socio-cultural commentary. What's most interesting about this book is the fact it's been out of print for decades and this publisher (Nabat) has spent time researching the archives of the Library of Congress to find books of this nature and republish them (i.e. You Can't Win by Jack Black - highly recommended). A publisher myself, and very interested in American history-culture-society, this strategy appeals to me.
Not much to use here for my thesis. Oh, that's right, I'm done with my thesis... Yes, but I am continuing the research as I'm converting my thesis into a nonfiction book on The American Road Novel. But who cares about this? Back to the book. There's some good anecdotal stories here but not much for plot; the chapters are snapshots of a life on the rods tied up in the end with a bit of socio-cultural commentary. What's most interesting about this book is the fact it's been out of print for decades and this publisher (Nabat) has spent time researching the archives of the Library of Congress to find books of this nature and republish them (i.e. You Can't Win by Jack Black - highly recommended). A publisher myself, and very interested in American history-culture-society, this strategy appeals to me.
May 11, 2014
I've heard about this writer and this particular book for decades. Many people described him as a writer of Hemingway's power and depth who never got his due. I truly enjoyed this book and the true life tales of " hoboes" and the just plain transient and desperate struck closer to home these days when jobs are scarce and the right wants to destroy the safety net while the gap between rich and poor becomes a Grand Canyon. But for me the main interest and satisfaction in the book is from its history and exceptional autobiography, not from the discovery of an exceptional underrated writer. There are shining moments that breath with life for sure, but also many sluggish periods and dated prose. But Tully was a strong voice for a part of America most folks don't believe exist or want to imprison/enslave.
August 3, 2014
it's a hobo memoir, so it's mostly about hobo stuff (trains, talking to other hobos, stating and re-stating one's defiant commitment to the hobo lifestyle, pursuit of warm nutritious meals). (side note: hobos might outpace rappers in terms of their solitary focus on articulating the virtues of their chosen lifestyle and their own individual excellence at being about said life).
but actually beyond the hobo genrematic conventions, this was a really good and lovely read. exceedingly beautiful and elevated descriptions of the beauties of life on the road under the blanket of stars. a little dated and formal, but alive with an authentic human electricity. RIYL hobos, once-famous now-obscure ohio writers.
but actually beyond the hobo genrematic conventions, this was a really good and lovely read. exceedingly beautiful and elevated descriptions of the beauties of life on the road under the blanket of stars. a little dated and formal, but alive with an authentic human electricity. RIYL hobos, once-famous now-obscure ohio writers.
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October 24, 2024This book is fascinating. I’ve never read something like that in my life. The stories, the writing, everything from start to end grows on you. He writes like Steinbeck but with a philosophical take over everything that was happening to him. You want to meet those people he talks about, you want to see what he is seeing, you want to be where he is. I was particular taken aback by two characters, Red and Edna. If you are reading this and ever come across them, let me know your thoughts. Saying to you to enjoy the book is poor, I can honestly tell you to live it. Let your mind, your body and your spirit be shaped by it, you will not regret it.
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