True Tales from the Annals of Crime and Rascality

by St. Clair McKelway

Collection of non-fiction crime stories from The New Yorker magazine.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

339 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

Reviews

[Neal Fandek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pleasant surprise. I picked it up used, and wasn’t expecting much. I ended up being totally charmed.

Can get a wee bit tedious, going into exhaustive details as New Yorker articles used to do, still some very compelling stories here. The story of Mr. 880 the counterfeiter is especially vivid.

[Linda Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+ stars Among the highlights The Wily Wilby (on a sly embezzler who evaded capture by crossing the US-Canada border over & over..there's a podcast about him), Firebug Catcher (with many fascinating details about arsonists), Mr 880 (fun tale of a counterfeiter) & Some Fun w/the FBI

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damon Runyon tales with the added benefit of being true stories.

St C brings every guy and doll to life, telling sympathetic tales for heroes and horrors alike.

Read for a window into a world that is on the cusp of slipping from memory to history.

[Danny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to a degree, but none of the stories really sparked.

[Modbon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short pieces from The New Yorker (all of which appeared originally between 1933 and 1950) is quite entertaining, and includes the story "Mister 880," later made into a film starring Burt Lancaster as an FBI agent tracking down a rather inadequate but quite charming counterfeiter (Edmund Gwenn).

These are true crime stories without a hard edge; there is no murder here (at least, not that I recall), but rather your confidence tricksters, hucksters, and other less frightening denizens of the New York underworld. It's been out of print for a long time, but if you find a copy, grab it.

[Irene Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

The word "rascality" tells you all you need to know about the fresh writing and inventive reporting of author McKelway (a New Yorker writer for much of his life).

[BLT · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for him. 5 stars.