What do you think?
Rate this book
take it Easy
Take it Easy
- GenresFictionShort Stories
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1938
6 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Damon Runyon
224 books83 followersSuch volumes as
Guys and Dolls
(1931), the basis for a musical of the same name on Broadway, collect stories of known American writer Alfred Damon Runyon about the underworld of New York.
A family in Manhattan, Kansas, reared this newspaperman. His grandfather, a printer from New Jersey, relocated to Manhattan, Kansas in 1855, and his father edited his own newspaper in the town. In 1882, people forced father of Runyon forced to sell his newspaper, and the family moved westward. The family eventually settled in 1887 in Pueblo, Colorado, where Runyon spent the rest of his youth. He began to work in the newspaper trade under his father in Pueblo. People named a field, the repertory theater company, and a lake in his honor. He worked for various newspapers in the area of the Rocky Mountains and let stand a change in the spelling of his last name from "Runyan" to "Runyon."
In 1898, Runyon enlisted in the Army to fight in the Spanish-American War. The service assigned himto write for the Manila Freedom and Soldier's Letter.
He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the Brooklyn or Midtown demi-monde. The adjective "Runyonesque" refers to this type of character as well as to the type of situations and dialog that Runyon depicted. He spun humorous tales of gamblers, hustlers, actors, and gangsters, few of whom go by "square" names, preferring instead colorful monikers such as "Nathan Detroit," "Benny Southstreet," "Big Jule," "Harry the Horse," "Good Time Charley," "Dave the Dude," or "The Seldom Seen Kid." Runyon wrote these stories in a distinctive vernacular style: a mixture of formal speech and colorful slang, almost always in present tense, and always devoid of contractions.
Runyon was also a newspaperman. He wrote the lead article for UP on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential inauguration in 1933.
Runyon died in New York City from throat cancer in late 1946, at age 66. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered from an airplane over Broadway in Manhattan by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker on December 18, 1946. The family plot of Damon Runyon is located at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY. After Runyon's death, his friend and fellow journalist, Walter Winchell, went on his radio program and appealed for contributions to help fight cancer, eventually establishing the “Damon Runyon Cancer Memorial Fund” to support scientific research into causes of, and prevention of cancer.
A family in Manhattan, Kansas, reared this newspaperman. His grandfather, a printer from New Jersey, relocated to Manhattan, Kansas in 1855, and his father edited his own newspaper in the town. In 1882, people forced father of Runyon forced to sell his newspaper, and the family moved westward. The family eventually settled in 1887 in Pueblo, Colorado, where Runyon spent the rest of his youth. He began to work in the newspaper trade under his father in Pueblo. People named a field, the repertory theater company, and a lake in his honor. He worked for various newspapers in the area of the Rocky Mountains and let stand a change in the spelling of his last name from "Runyan" to "Runyon."
In 1898, Runyon enlisted in the Army to fight in the Spanish-American War. The service assigned himto write for the Manila Freedom and Soldier's Letter.
He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the Brooklyn or Midtown demi-monde. The adjective "Runyonesque" refers to this type of character as well as to the type of situations and dialog that Runyon depicted. He spun humorous tales of gamblers, hustlers, actors, and gangsters, few of whom go by "square" names, preferring instead colorful monikers such as "Nathan Detroit," "Benny Southstreet," "Big Jule," "Harry the Horse," "Good Time Charley," "Dave the Dude," or "The Seldom Seen Kid." Runyon wrote these stories in a distinctive vernacular style: a mixture of formal speech and colorful slang, almost always in present tense, and always devoid of contractions.
Runyon was also a newspaperman. He wrote the lead article for UP on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential inauguration in 1933.
Runyon died in New York City from throat cancer in late 1946, at age 66. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered from an airplane over Broadway in Manhattan by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker on December 18, 1946. The family plot of Damon Runyon is located at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY. After Runyon's death, his friend and fellow journalist, Walter Winchell, went on his radio program and appealed for contributions to help fight cancer, eventually establishing the “Damon Runyon Cancer Memorial Fund” to support scientific research into causes of, and prevention of cancer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 29, 2020
Je conseille à tous qui s'intéresse à l'histoire de la culture populaire américaine de lire "Take it Easy" (qui est gratuit chez Faded Page (https://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php...) car Damon Runyon est probablement l'écrivain qui a contribué le plus à la mythologie de la petite criminalité de New York pendant la première moitié du vingtième siècle et ce recueil de contes représente très bien son œuvre.
Les personnages de Runyon sont trop minables pour mériter l'étiquette de "gangster". Ils ne sont finalement pas assez compétent pour appartenir aux familles de Mafia ou aux autres gangs de la première catégorie. Ils organisent des courses de des courses de chevaux et des combats de boxe truqués. D'autres sont des cambrioleurs, des coupeurs de bourses, des prostituées et des tueurs à gages. Ils sont tous des perdants-nés qui font rire le lecteur.
En termes de qualité littéraire les contes de Runyon sont au même niveau que les romans-policiers de San-Antonio. Néanmoins, ils illustrent très bien un aspect de la culture américaine.
Les personnages de Runyon sont trop minables pour mériter l'étiquette de "gangster". Ils ne sont finalement pas assez compétent pour appartenir aux familles de Mafia ou aux autres gangs de la première catégorie. Ils organisent des courses de des courses de chevaux et des combats de boxe truqués. D'autres sont des cambrioleurs, des coupeurs de bourses, des prostituées et des tueurs à gages. Ils sont tous des perdants-nés qui font rire le lecteur.
En termes de qualité littéraire les contes de Runyon sont au même niveau que les romans-policiers de San-Antonio. Néanmoins, ils illustrent très bien un aspect de la culture américaine.
May 16, 2024
Lesser-known gems.
This collection of Runyon's "Broadway Stories" was published in 1938. Sadly, Runyon has been largely forgotten, although he was a brilliant humor writer. His books are long out of print and (to my disgust) Kindle editions of them are appearing too slowly. As Runyon's unnamed narrator would say, "This is a situation which causes much hardship among citizens", especially those of us who like to laugh.
Modern reprints and Kindle editions tend to focus on the best know of Runyon's stories, such as "Little Miss Marker" which was made into a popular Shirley Temple movie. "Romance in the Roaring Forties" is reprinted because it was the basis of the hit musical/movie "Guys and Dolls."
But Runyon wrote many stories and some of the more obscure one are even better than the "popular" ones. I think this collection is fine and many of its seventeen stories are outstanding.
"Too Much Pep" is one of my favorites. It shows Runyon's familiarity with New York City life in the 1920's and 30's. Most people weren't gangsters, but even totally legitimate business people were forced to deal with them. It was also a time when first-generation immigrants were struggling to accommodate their American-born kids, while not turning their backs on the tried-and-true methods of their culture. The hiring of Don Pepe and his unique way of dealing with greedy gangsters is hilarious.
The fact is that few aspects of life weren't subject to corruption, which is as true now as then. Even baseball ("America's Favorite Sport") could be tampered with by greedy bettors. Fortunately, Baseball Hattie is a die-hard fan of the game and willing to go to extreme lengths to preserve its integrity.
There are stories about horse trainers and horse bettors, boxing, eating contests, professional hitmen, and one particularly gruesome case of insurance fraud. In the end, a certain rough justice prevails, even if it's outside the strict boundaries of the law.
After "Too Much Pep", my favorite is "Neat Strip." Runyon had been around long enough to figure out that family members frequently know very little about each other. It's always hard for young people to realize that their older relatives weren't BORN middle-aged and may have surprising backgrounds.
All of these stories (and the contents of two other Runyon collections) are included in "The Runyon Omnibus" (which I own.) So why did I buy this duplicate? Because it has an interactive Table of Contents, which is missing in the "Omnibus." When I'm reading a book of short stories, I like to be able to move through it easily.
I love Runyon's stories and I'm sorry that so few readers today are familiar with them. He had a deep knowledge of human nature and a moral compass that sets his work aside from stories written only to get a belly laugh. His tales look back to a different time, but the things that motivate his characters (greed, love, fear, pity, envy, and generosity) are the same ones that drive human behavior today and always will. He was a fine writer and he deserves to be rediscovered.
This collection of Runyon's "Broadway Stories" was published in 1938. Sadly, Runyon has been largely forgotten, although he was a brilliant humor writer. His books are long out of print and (to my disgust) Kindle editions of them are appearing too slowly. As Runyon's unnamed narrator would say, "This is a situation which causes much hardship among citizens", especially those of us who like to laugh.
Modern reprints and Kindle editions tend to focus on the best know of Runyon's stories, such as "Little Miss Marker" which was made into a popular Shirley Temple movie. "Romance in the Roaring Forties" is reprinted because it was the basis of the hit musical/movie "Guys and Dolls."
But Runyon wrote many stories and some of the more obscure one are even better than the "popular" ones. I think this collection is fine and many of its seventeen stories are outstanding.
"Too Much Pep" is one of my favorites. It shows Runyon's familiarity with New York City life in the 1920's and 30's. Most people weren't gangsters, but even totally legitimate business people were forced to deal with them. It was also a time when first-generation immigrants were struggling to accommodate their American-born kids, while not turning their backs on the tried-and-true methods of their culture. The hiring of Don Pepe and his unique way of dealing with greedy gangsters is hilarious.
The fact is that few aspects of life weren't subject to corruption, which is as true now as then. Even baseball ("America's Favorite Sport") could be tampered with by greedy bettors. Fortunately, Baseball Hattie is a die-hard fan of the game and willing to go to extreme lengths to preserve its integrity.
There are stories about horse trainers and horse bettors, boxing, eating contests, professional hitmen, and one particularly gruesome case of insurance fraud. In the end, a certain rough justice prevails, even if it's outside the strict boundaries of the law.
After "Too Much Pep", my favorite is "Neat Strip." Runyon had been around long enough to figure out that family members frequently know very little about each other. It's always hard for young people to realize that their older relatives weren't BORN middle-aged and may have surprising backgrounds.
All of these stories (and the contents of two other Runyon collections) are included in "The Runyon Omnibus" (which I own.) So why did I buy this duplicate? Because it has an interactive Table of Contents, which is missing in the "Omnibus." When I'm reading a book of short stories, I like to be able to move through it easily.
I love Runyon's stories and I'm sorry that so few readers today are familiar with them. He had a deep knowledge of human nature and a moral compass that sets his work aside from stories written only to get a belly laugh. His tales look back to a different time, but the things that motivate his characters (greed, love, fear, pity, envy, and generosity) are the same ones that drive human behavior today and always will. He was a fine writer and he deserves to be rediscovered.
October 10, 2023
9/10
Best stories: Cemetary Bait, For a Pal, A Piece of Pie
More slightly diminishing returns in this third collection of Runyon, though it contains arguably one of his most well-known stories. Still a lot of funny silly shenanigans, thoughly noticeably lacking in the slight tonal variety Runyon has demonstrated before.
Best stories: Cemetary Bait, For a Pal, A Piece of Pie
More slightly diminishing returns in this third collection of Runyon, though it contains arguably one of his most well-known stories. Still a lot of funny silly shenanigans, thoughly noticeably lacking in the slight tonal variety Runyon has demonstrated before.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews