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The Mysterious Mr. I #2
I, Chameleon TPB
Written in 1936, THE MYSTERIOUS MR. I was published in Great Britain in 1937. In the US it was split into two books, THE MYSTERIOUS MR. I and THE CHAMELEON and published in 1939. This edition contains both books, as originally published.
- GenresMystery
Perfect Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Harry Stephen Keeler
167 books55 followersBorn in Chicago in 1890, Keeler spent his childhood exclusively in this city, which was so beloved by the author that a large number of his works took place in and around it. In many of his novels, Keeler refers to Chicago as "the London of the west." The expression is explained in the opening of Thieves' Nights (1929):
"Here ... were seemingly the same hawkers ... selling the same goods ... here too was the confusion, the babble of tongues of many lands, the restless, shoving throng containing faces and features of a thousand racial castes, and last but not least, here on Halsted and Maxwell streets, Chicago, were the same dirt, flying bits of torn paper, and confusion that graced the junction of Middlesex and Whitechapel High streets far across the globe."
Other locales for Keeler novels include New Orleans and New York. In his later works, Keeler's settings are often more generic settings such as Big River, or a city in which all buildings and streets are either nameless or fictional. Keeler is known to have visited London at least once, but his occasional depictions of British characters are consistently implausible.
"Here ... were seemingly the same hawkers ... selling the same goods ... here too was the confusion, the babble of tongues of many lands, the restless, shoving throng containing faces and features of a thousand racial castes, and last but not least, here on Halsted and Maxwell streets, Chicago, were the same dirt, flying bits of torn paper, and confusion that graced the junction of Middlesex and Whitechapel High streets far across the globe."
Other locales for Keeler novels include New Orleans and New York. In his later works, Keeler's settings are often more generic settings such as Big River, or a city in which all buildings and streets are either nameless or fictional. Keeler is known to have visited London at least once, but his occasional depictions of British characters are consistently implausible.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 18, 2024
Classic Keeler. The first I ever read, the RambleHouse double set "I, Chameleon."
This is from the white-hot phase of Keeler, so the second you open the book(s) you are getting a high-energy description, laser-focused on Chicagocentric details and full of grunting, thought-sandwiching dialogue, that becomes full of dialect or runs on into pages and pages.
The characters are nervous, they are misleading, but the good guys are decent fellows and in this one you hope the madness cools in his favor.
Just try to buy it from Fender Tucker. Or on ebay or something. You know. No need to feed... the demon in the room?
This is from the white-hot phase of Keeler, so the second you open the book(s) you are getting a high-energy description, laser-focused on Chicagocentric details and full of grunting, thought-sandwiching dialogue, that becomes full of dialect or runs on into pages and pages.
The characters are nervous, they are misleading, but the good guys are decent fellows and in this one you hope the madness cools in his favor.
Just try to buy it from Fender Tucker. Or on ebay or something. You know. No need to feed... the demon in the room?
Displaying 1 of 1 review