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Black Friday
It’s winter in Philadelphia. Hart is broke, freezing, looking for a place to lay low from the cops. If he can’t find somewhere soon he might do something rash—like accept a wallet containing $11,000 from a man dying from gunshot wounds in the street. Whoever killed him might have a bed, though, even if that means hanging out with a bunch of thieves and drifters. Lucky for Hart he’s handy with his fists. And if he can use his looks and smarts to get in with the gang, maybe he can ride this out and score big on his own.
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
7 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
David Goodis
97 books321 followersBorn and bred in Philadelphia, David Goodis was an American noir fiction writer. He grew up in a liberal, Jewish household in which his early literary ambitions were encouraged. After a short and inconclusive spell at Indiana University, he returned to Philadelphia to take a degree in journalism, graduating in 1937.
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February 13, 2023
David Goodis was the poet laurete of the downtrodden and lost souls that walked the empty streets of Philadelphia. His novels rarely contain more than a faint glimmer of hope. Rather, the world he offers is dark, dreary, and fundamentally lost and aimless. Goodis’ 1954 novel, Black Friday, fits in well with his usual offerings. Hart is a man on the run since he left New Orleans with a Cain and Abel type murder hanging over his head. His fate turns as he steps off the train, hears a gunshot, and finds a man fallen in the street, a dying man who offers Hart a wallet stuffed with thousands of dollars. Hart takes the wallet, having little else left to him and finds himself now on the run and then imprisoned by a gang of jewel and antique thieves, preying on the Main Line’s gilded mansions.
For most of the book we know little about Hart and his motivations, just that he is on the run and feels safer hiding out with the gang than out on the street where Joe Law can run him down. It leaves the novel with a sense of loss and little to ground it. But that is just what Goodis wants. Hart, for him, is an everyman who belongs nowhere and the question throughout is whether Hart can wholeheartedly join the gang of thieves or whether he is doomed to wander aimlessly without friend or family in a vast and lonely world. In other words, who is Hart and what is he made of?
Charley, the leader of the gang, takes to Hart after seeing him stand up to and take down bully Paul and at least stand up to muscle man Mattone. But he’s never one hundred percent certain of Hart not even when gal pal Frieda ditches Charley and takes to Hart whether Hart wants oversized Frieda to dig him or not. Rizzio and Myrna complete the gang who are all holed up for a week in a Philadelphia rowhouse, none free to leave until the next caper is pulled off on Friday the 13th no less. Seven days they are cooped up together as the tension builds between them.
In many ways, it is a bit odd of a novel with the actual caper paling in importance to the tension between the members of the group, playing out in stabbings, shootings, fistfights, and verbal sparring.
For most of the book we know little about Hart and his motivations, just that he is on the run and feels safer hiding out with the gang than out on the street where Joe Law can run him down. It leaves the novel with a sense of loss and little to ground it. But that is just what Goodis wants. Hart, for him, is an everyman who belongs nowhere and the question throughout is whether Hart can wholeheartedly join the gang of thieves or whether he is doomed to wander aimlessly without friend or family in a vast and lonely world. In other words, who is Hart and what is he made of?
Charley, the leader of the gang, takes to Hart after seeing him stand up to and take down bully Paul and at least stand up to muscle man Mattone. But he’s never one hundred percent certain of Hart not even when gal pal Frieda ditches Charley and takes to Hart whether Hart wants oversized Frieda to dig him or not. Rizzio and Myrna complete the gang who are all holed up for a week in a Philadelphia rowhouse, none free to leave until the next caper is pulled off on Friday the 13th no less. Seven days they are cooped up together as the tension builds between them.
In many ways, it is a bit odd of a novel with the actual caper paling in importance to the tension between the members of the group, playing out in stabbings, shootings, fistfights, and verbal sparring.
April 21, 2014
Maybe I'll review this later.
This novel is really required reading for lovers of noir and/or bleak crime lit.
Very powerful.
Beautiful writing.
It doesn't get better than this.
Read
May 8, 2022David Goodis needs an editor. There was probably never a time when he didn’t need one, but in Black Friday (1954 – he published three novels that year) he needs one more than ever. 120 pages of plot-points and motivations hashed over and over till they’re burned in your consciousness – a short novella stretched to three times its optimum length. (If, like Hammett’s Nightmare Town – its opposite in terms of polish – it was 40 pages it might have cooked.) And the dialogue! UGH! Sure, there’s gold in there, suspended in sewerage. Yet I kept reading for lines like this:
As to the rest, it gets under your skin, follows a logic of its own. I’ve said it before but, in a way, Goodis is the American Kafka, with a third the discipline. There are things he says and shows and infers that burrow down deep in your spirit. In between, you cringe, grit your teeth, soldier on. Since I first read Down There (AKA Shoot the Piano Player) five or six years ago I’ve wondered if that first positive impression was accurate. From the start, I had him pegged as wild, only just in control. But in every book since (except maybe The Burglar, 1953) he seems to lose control. I always forgive him (except in Nightfall, 1947, referred to – inexplicably – by one Geoffrey O’Brien in the intro to Black Friday as “in retrospect an almost perfect book”) but I think my patience is wearing thin. The thing is, in precis (in retrospect?) all his books are masterpieces. Cooked down to their essence, hell, maybe they’re all “almost perfect”. But just try reading one – it’s like having teeth pulled.
In the middle of an endless plain of soft snow there was a pool of black water. A man’s head emerged from the pool and the man opened his mouth and began to shriek.
As to the rest, it gets under your skin, follows a logic of its own. I’ve said it before but, in a way, Goodis is the American Kafka, with a third the discipline. There are things he says and shows and infers that burrow down deep in your spirit. In between, you cringe, grit your teeth, soldier on. Since I first read Down There (AKA Shoot the Piano Player) five or six years ago I’ve wondered if that first positive impression was accurate. From the start, I had him pegged as wild, only just in control. But in every book since (except maybe The Burglar, 1953) he seems to lose control. I always forgive him (except in Nightfall, 1947, referred to – inexplicably – by one Geoffrey O’Brien in the intro to Black Friday as “in retrospect an almost perfect book”) but I think my patience is wearing thin. The thing is, in precis (in retrospect?) all his books are masterpieces. Cooked down to their essence, hell, maybe they’re all “almost perfect”. But just try reading one – it’s like having teeth pulled.
May 6, 2024
Shoot the Piano Player really impressed me. But this was a couple of elements from that chopped up and served as a hash. Disappointing.
May 13, 2023
4.5*
December 3, 2019
David Goodis has a tremendous reputation among noir fans (especially the French), no doubt because his books were unfailingly sordid and depressing. Goodis didn't do wholesome.
He did, however, know how to keep a reader turning the pages. In this one, a man on the run from a murder rap in New Orleans falls in with a gang of burglars in Philadelphia who are holed up in a big house while plotting to hit mansions of the wealthy. The household consists of several men (five initially but two expire in short order) and two women. One of the women is a frail twenty-something and the other a well-padded thirty-four ("one-sixty if she was an ounce, more solid than soft, packed into five feet five inches and molded majestically"). The boss is a guy named Charley; the heavy woman is his moll, but he can't perform in bed any more, so he doesn't mind if she pursues her own little adventures. She takes a shine to the newcomer, who is absorbed into the household despite having fatally injured one of the gang in a fight... Yeah, it's a madcap bunch. The plot of the book is just a look at human relations among criminals, what happens as this ill-assorted crew sits around for a few days, drinking, playing poker, fighting, scheming and disposing of bodies in the basement furnace. It culminates in a big heist on Friday the thirteenth, which doesn't end well, as you might expect. The whole thing is appalling but has a sort of lunatic appeal. You thank God you don't live in that world, but you keep reading, and that's what noir is all about.
He did, however, know how to keep a reader turning the pages. In this one, a man on the run from a murder rap in New Orleans falls in with a gang of burglars in Philadelphia who are holed up in a big house while plotting to hit mansions of the wealthy. The household consists of several men (five initially but two expire in short order) and two women. One of the women is a frail twenty-something and the other a well-padded thirty-four ("one-sixty if she was an ounce, more solid than soft, packed into five feet five inches and molded majestically"). The boss is a guy named Charley; the heavy woman is his moll, but he can't perform in bed any more, so he doesn't mind if she pursues her own little adventures. She takes a shine to the newcomer, who is absorbed into the household despite having fatally injured one of the gang in a fight... Yeah, it's a madcap bunch. The plot of the book is just a look at human relations among criminals, what happens as this ill-assorted crew sits around for a few days, drinking, playing poker, fighting, scheming and disposing of bodies in the basement furnace. It culminates in a big heist on Friday the thirteenth, which doesn't end well, as you might expect. The whole thing is appalling but has a sort of lunatic appeal. You thank God you don't live in that world, but you keep reading, and that's what noir is all about.
March 10, 2013
I’m hooked on that noir. My last review was Jim Thompson’s After Dark, My Sweet, and while I try to vary my reviews by genre I couldn’t resist following up with more another work of vintage crime. Black Friday is the first book I’ve read from David Goodis. Now I must admit after reading the deeply psychological work of Jim Thompson, Goodis felt dry and somewhat stiff. For a moment I had wondered if Black Lizard press finally dropped that dreaded bomb of disappointment. By the halfway point I glad to have discovered another master of the craft. Black Friday is a story about Hart, a desperate man running from the law for an unforgivable crime. He finds a man in the street dying of a gunshot wound. From there is taken in by the gang who murdered the man. The cops are looking for everyone involved and so they’re trapped in the hideout together. Hart must keep his nerves sharp if he wants to keep alive in a crowded little house with violent men and vicious women.
This is one of the more explicitly violent old school noirs I’ve read. Goodis has a detached style that zooms in on the brutality with a shocking swiftness. If I had to describe this book in one word I’d use, “economical.” Goodis pulls the maximum worth out of the fewest amounts of scenes, dialogue, and characters. The majority of the book takes place in single setting, and yet the book never becomes dull. The confrontation between the characters keeps the tension strong with a threat violence looming over them at all times. There is also enough sex to throw in a scandalous edge. Black Friday is like a game of chicken where the loser gets fried and whoever goes too far only guts himself.
Black Friday is another short novel which read more like a long short story. Goodis’ detached style does take a little while to get used to, but it feels almost as if he’s baiting the reader to lower his guard before throwing a sack over his head. This is a claustrophobic tale that can be appreciated by crime fans of either the classic works or the modern style. Who can resist the combination of classic noir story telling with the level of violence used today? I already have my next Goodis title lined up.
This is one of the more explicitly violent old school noirs I’ve read. Goodis has a detached style that zooms in on the brutality with a shocking swiftness. If I had to describe this book in one word I’d use, “economical.” Goodis pulls the maximum worth out of the fewest amounts of scenes, dialogue, and characters. The majority of the book takes place in single setting, and yet the book never becomes dull. The confrontation between the characters keeps the tension strong with a threat violence looming over them at all times. There is also enough sex to throw in a scandalous edge. Black Friday is like a game of chicken where the loser gets fried and whoever goes too far only guts himself.
Black Friday is another short novel which read more like a long short story. Goodis’ detached style does take a little while to get used to, but it feels almost as if he’s baiting the reader to lower his guard before throwing a sack over his head. This is a claustrophobic tale that can be appreciated by crime fans of either the classic works or the modern style. Who can resist the combination of classic noir story telling with the level of violence used today? I already have my next Goodis title lined up.
September 24, 2025
(3.5) really coming to love the crime genre
September 29, 2021
David Goodis At His Darkest
David Goodis (1917 -- 1967) had the rare talent of combining the formalized qualities of the genre of nor fiction with unique portrayals of loneliness and desperation. "Black Friday" is perhaps the most extreme of Goodis' novels in its depiction of lost, tormented individuals. In its portrayal of the bonds that tie a group of criminals together, the book resembles Goodis' earlier novel, "The Burglar" which is included in a Library of America collection of Goodis novels. "Black Friday" also portrays an outcast who becomes unwittingly involved with the group, to his own and the group's sorrow.
The story is set in Philadelphia in a 1950's winter. The protagonist, Al Hart, wanders the city streets and steals an overcoat from a clothing store. He is running away from New Orleans where he is wanted for the murder of his older brother. The motive of the murder, it appears, is to inherit the large wealth his brother had earned. As the story unfolds, it develops that Hart was well educated and had gifts as an artist. Goodis' words "He had no idea of where he was going and he didn't care" describe Hart's life.
The body of the story describes Hart's relationship with a small group of criminals under the control of Charley, 59, who had done at least five years time earlier in life. The group lives in an old house in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and supports itself by robbing large, wealthy homes on the city's mainline. The group consists of two men, Rizzio and Mattone, and two women, Frieda, a buxom blonde, and the much smaller and more reserved Myrna. The group has just killed one of its members for disloyalty and left his body on the street. When Hart, fleeing the police, chances on the body, he becomes involved with the group, but not before getting into a fight with another one of its members, Paul, and giving Paul what proves to be a mortal injury.
Most of the book is set in the home. Goodis describes each of the highly idiosyncratic and damaged characters and the tension in their relationships to one another. The chief source of tension becomes the relationship between Charley and Hart. Charley is unable to let Hart go alive, but Hart persuades him that he is an experienced criminal and professional killer, chiefly based on Hart's story that he has killed his brother for money. Charlie allows Hart to join the group and to participate in a robbery of oriental art from a large mansion scheduled for a Friday the thirteenth, "Black Friday".
The robbery occupies only a few pages of the story with Goodis concentrating on the criminals, their backgrounds and relationships. The book is almost unrelievebly squalid and sad with some scenes not suitable for the fainthearted. There is deep mistrust between Hart and the rest of the group. Sexual tension develops between Hart and both women. Frieda, lonely and frustrated had been nominally Charlie's mistress. Myrna was the sister of Paul, the man Hart killed in the fight early in the book.
Goodis writes in a style that is both lyrical and hardboiled. His prose is rhythmical and descriptive, possessing its own type of lurid beauty.
Published as a pulp paperback in 1954, "Black Friday" was reissued by Black Lizard Press in 1987. The 1987 edition includes an introduction by Geoffery O'Brien which offers a good overview of Goodis' novels, including several that are difficult to obtain. O'Brien describes Goodis as "a poet of the losers, transforming swift cut-rate melodramas into traumatic visions of failed lives."
O'Brien describes Goodis' themes in more detail as follows:
"The central law of Goodis' fiction is that happiness is forbidden. All true love remains unconsummated; all petty criminals (a breed with whom the author closely identifies) are caught ignominiously; all proud old men are humiliated; all virgins are molested. The sentimental lyricism of Goodis' prose masks a savage perception of life."
"Black Friday" bears out O'Brien's description of Goodis' writing. It is a raw, wounded work that will have most appeal to readers of Goodis' more accessible novels published in the Library of America. Unfortunately, "Black Friday" is currently out of print. The novel and O'Brien's introduction deserve to be reissued.
Robin Friedman
David Goodis (1917 -- 1967) had the rare talent of combining the formalized qualities of the genre of nor fiction with unique portrayals of loneliness and desperation. "Black Friday" is perhaps the most extreme of Goodis' novels in its depiction of lost, tormented individuals. In its portrayal of the bonds that tie a group of criminals together, the book resembles Goodis' earlier novel, "The Burglar" which is included in a Library of America collection of Goodis novels. "Black Friday" also portrays an outcast who becomes unwittingly involved with the group, to his own and the group's sorrow.
The story is set in Philadelphia in a 1950's winter. The protagonist, Al Hart, wanders the city streets and steals an overcoat from a clothing store. He is running away from New Orleans where he is wanted for the murder of his older brother. The motive of the murder, it appears, is to inherit the large wealth his brother had earned. As the story unfolds, it develops that Hart was well educated and had gifts as an artist. Goodis' words "He had no idea of where he was going and he didn't care" describe Hart's life.
The body of the story describes Hart's relationship with a small group of criminals under the control of Charley, 59, who had done at least five years time earlier in life. The group lives in an old house in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and supports itself by robbing large, wealthy homes on the city's mainline. The group consists of two men, Rizzio and Mattone, and two women, Frieda, a buxom blonde, and the much smaller and more reserved Myrna. The group has just killed one of its members for disloyalty and left his body on the street. When Hart, fleeing the police, chances on the body, he becomes involved with the group, but not before getting into a fight with another one of its members, Paul, and giving Paul what proves to be a mortal injury.
Most of the book is set in the home. Goodis describes each of the highly idiosyncratic and damaged characters and the tension in their relationships to one another. The chief source of tension becomes the relationship between Charley and Hart. Charley is unable to let Hart go alive, but Hart persuades him that he is an experienced criminal and professional killer, chiefly based on Hart's story that he has killed his brother for money. Charlie allows Hart to join the group and to participate in a robbery of oriental art from a large mansion scheduled for a Friday the thirteenth, "Black Friday".
The robbery occupies only a few pages of the story with Goodis concentrating on the criminals, their backgrounds and relationships. The book is almost unrelievebly squalid and sad with some scenes not suitable for the fainthearted. There is deep mistrust between Hart and the rest of the group. Sexual tension develops between Hart and both women. Frieda, lonely and frustrated had been nominally Charlie's mistress. Myrna was the sister of Paul, the man Hart killed in the fight early in the book.
Goodis writes in a style that is both lyrical and hardboiled. His prose is rhythmical and descriptive, possessing its own type of lurid beauty.
Published as a pulp paperback in 1954, "Black Friday" was reissued by Black Lizard Press in 1987. The 1987 edition includes an introduction by Geoffery O'Brien which offers a good overview of Goodis' novels, including several that are difficult to obtain. O'Brien describes Goodis as "a poet of the losers, transforming swift cut-rate melodramas into traumatic visions of failed lives."
O'Brien describes Goodis' themes in more detail as follows:
"The central law of Goodis' fiction is that happiness is forbidden. All true love remains unconsummated; all petty criminals (a breed with whom the author closely identifies) are caught ignominiously; all proud old men are humiliated; all virgins are molested. The sentimental lyricism of Goodis' prose masks a savage perception of life."
"Black Friday" bears out O'Brien's description of Goodis' writing. It is a raw, wounded work that will have most appeal to readers of Goodis' more accessible novels published in the Library of America. Unfortunately, "Black Friday" is currently out of print. The novel and O'Brien's introduction deserve to be reissued.
Robin Friedman
February 1, 2023
Estamos ante una novela negra violenta. Los personajes reciben y dan trompadas, patadas, puñaladas y balazos sin importar el sexo. También hay engaños y trampas en donde el protagonista tiene que pensar detenidamente que hacer o decir para continuar con vida.
El origen está en la injusta sociedad que en lugar de defender a los menos favorecidos, los trata como parias y los hunden, condenandolos a a marginación, a ser perdedores.
La obra bien puede representarse en el teatro, funciona como un drama donde todos se juegan el futuro en torno a una mesa de cartas o en torno o a una cama.
Goodies conoció de primera mano los bajos fondos y los plasma con buena mano. El día elegido para dar un golpe por la banda es el viernes 13, ¿traerá mala suerte o no?
El origen está en la injusta sociedad que en lugar de defender a los menos favorecidos, los trata como parias y los hunden, condenandolos a a marginación, a ser perdedores.
La obra bien puede representarse en el teatro, funciona como un drama donde todos se juegan el futuro en torno a una mesa de cartas o en torno o a una cama.
Goodies conoció de primera mano los bajos fondos y los plasma con buena mano. El día elegido para dar un golpe por la banda es el viernes 13, ¿traerá mala suerte o no?
December 24, 2024
Un prófugo termina mezclándose con otros delincuentes que deben esconderse en una casa, donde transcurre casi toda la historia.
Como buen policial negro, la trama está cargada de tensión, sangre, recelos y alianzas frágiles, sostenidas por un hilo que inevitablemente se rompe.
Hay un plan para asaltar una mansión, pero justo cae un viernes 13, lo que incrementa los resquemores y las tensiones entre los protagonistas, poniendo en jaque la misión.
Como buen policial negro, la trama está cargada de tensión, sangre, recelos y alianzas frágiles, sostenidas por un hilo que inevitablemente se rompe.
Hay un plan para asaltar una mansión, pero justo cae un viernes 13, lo que incrementa los resquemores y las tensiones entre los protagonistas, poniendo en jaque la misión.
November 3, 2023
Hart is on the run from a murder charge in New Orleans. He heads north on a train and when he spots undercover cops he jumps off the train in Philadelphia, leaving his suitcase and everything he has behind. He's got very little money in his pocket (his stash was in the suitcase as well...) and, coming from the south, is not prepared for the wintry weather. He resorts to theft to get himself a warm overcoat and then as he's escaping from the area of the robbery walks into the middle of a gangland "disagreement." He winds up trapped in a suburban house with the gang (four psychotic criminals and two women who run the house for them) who planning a big heist on Friday the 13th--forced to think on his feet, find a way into the leader's good graces, and manage to stay alive.
I've said this before on the blog, but it bears repeating: I am not a noir/hard-boiled devotee. Most of what I've accumulated in the genre have come in lots of books on ebay where there were some highly desired books in with an assortment of what the seller was pleased to call "mysteries." Would I have deliberately bought this book if it had been on its own? No. But, man, Goodis can write. His first line is so telling of the situation Hart finds himself in--not only is the winter cold closing in on him, but so is the law and the crooks he's gotten himself mixed up with. There is no way out that won't result in heartache (at least) and with Hart in a situation far worse than where he started (most likely). Hart's story is even more affecting when we learn where he comes from and why he killed and is on the run. It's a brutal read--but, oddly enough, beautifully written and it expresses the loneliness and desperation of the man on the run so well.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
I've said this before on the blog, but it bears repeating: I am not a noir/hard-boiled devotee. Most of what I've accumulated in the genre have come in lots of books on ebay where there were some highly desired books in with an assortment of what the seller was pleased to call "mysteries." Would I have deliberately bought this book if it had been on its own? No. But, man, Goodis can write. His first line is so telling of the situation Hart finds himself in--not only is the winter cold closing in on him, but so is the law and the crooks he's gotten himself mixed up with. There is no way out that won't result in heartache (at least) and with Hart in a situation far worse than where he started (most likely). Hart's story is even more affecting when we learn where he comes from and why he killed and is on the run. It's a brutal read--but, oddly enough, beautifully written and it expresses the loneliness and desperation of the man on the run so well.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
January 9, 2025
Not as polished or tight as The Burgler, it is baggy and rawer, and a very good noir piece that could have been great. Yet Goodis focuses too much on the plot as the book proceeds, and not the bleakness. Still, a good effort.
May 4, 2017
This has to be among the bleakest of the many bleak books that I have read. It has lots of violence, death, and gore (not too far in, and a body gets hacked up and the parts get dumped into a furnace).
I'm going to summarize the plot to some extent, so stop here if you want to read the book fresh.
The main character, Hart, starts about as down and out as one can get: lost on the cold and windy streets of Philadelphia in the dead of winter, without a coat. He's been on the lam all the way from New Orleans after murdering (actually, euthanizing) his brother. He steals a coat from a store, eludes the police, and then tries to assist a man who is dying from a gunshot wound in the street. This leads to his involvement with the dying man's assailants: a "crime family." The leader, over the objections of his cohorts, adopts Hart as a fellow "professional," and enlists him in their latest caper: the burglary of a mansion.
Although there are glimmers of hope along the way -- and even what appears to be the possibility of love -- the truth of the matter is that Hart is a prisoner in a hornet's nest, and he's not the professional that he has represented himself to be. After many twists and turns, and so much destruction and mayhem that even the Crime Daddy loses heart, Hart is able to walk free again, with only the clothes on his back (including the coat that he stole at the outset of the book). It's tempting to think that he's back where he started at the beginning of the story, but he's definitely the worse for wear and one can't help but think that the leap into the river that he considered earlier in the book might be a step up.
You might not recover from reading this. David Goodis, the Poet Laureate of Losers, has struck again!
I'm going to summarize the plot to some extent, so stop here if you want to read the book fresh.
The main character, Hart, starts about as down and out as one can get: lost on the cold and windy streets of Philadelphia in the dead of winter, without a coat. He's been on the lam all the way from New Orleans after murdering (actually, euthanizing) his brother. He steals a coat from a store, eludes the police, and then tries to assist a man who is dying from a gunshot wound in the street. This leads to his involvement with the dying man's assailants: a "crime family." The leader, over the objections of his cohorts, adopts Hart as a fellow "professional," and enlists him in their latest caper: the burglary of a mansion.
Although there are glimmers of hope along the way -- and even what appears to be the possibility of love -- the truth of the matter is that Hart is a prisoner in a hornet's nest, and he's not the professional that he has represented himself to be. After many twists and turns, and so much destruction and mayhem that even the Crime Daddy loses heart, Hart is able to walk free again, with only the clothes on his back (including the coat that he stole at the outset of the book). It's tempting to think that he's back where he started at the beginning of the story, but he's definitely the worse for wear and one can't help but think that the leap into the river that he considered earlier in the book might be a step up.
You might not recover from reading this. David Goodis, the Poet Laureate of Losers, has struck again!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2019
A few months ago, a journalist whose newsletter I follow posted about how much he loved David Goodis’ books. We had exchanged e-mails in the past; he turned me on to the fabulous Martin Beck series (bless him forever). Hearing him laud Goodis made me want to read more of the man’s work. When I saw a Black Lizard (bless them forever) copy for sale, I pounced.
My favorite avenue to explore existentialism is not in the philosophical novels of graying old men but in the brief, shot-to-your-head explorations of crime in noir tales. You get to know the main character, usually an unreliable narrator, through a series of unfortunate circumstances that have a bleak ending. I like these kinds of books but aside from Jim Thompson tales and Hard Case Crime novels, I don’t read as many. That should change.
This has all the classic settings of crime noir: a lead who’s in over his head, some untrustworthy characters, a crime that either has or must be committed, the stakes being raised in small but important ways. But really, it’s less a crime story and more a meditation on the human condition: how quick, well-intentioned but poor decisions land us in the messes we make for ourselves and how futile escape can be. It doesn’t necessarily have to be crime; it can be anything. The whole tale, from beginning to end, forces the reader to struggle with those questions as it lays out its twisted story, right up to the last few words.
I read it in one sitting, not being able to put it down. I need to get my hands on more Goodis.
My favorite avenue to explore existentialism is not in the philosophical novels of graying old men but in the brief, shot-to-your-head explorations of crime in noir tales. You get to know the main character, usually an unreliable narrator, through a series of unfortunate circumstances that have a bleak ending. I like these kinds of books but aside from Jim Thompson tales and Hard Case Crime novels, I don’t read as many. That should change.
This has all the classic settings of crime noir: a lead who’s in over his head, some untrustworthy characters, a crime that either has or must be committed, the stakes being raised in small but important ways. But really, it’s less a crime story and more a meditation on the human condition: how quick, well-intentioned but poor decisions land us in the messes we make for ourselves and how futile escape can be. It doesn’t necessarily have to be crime; it can be anything. The whole tale, from beginning to end, forces the reader to struggle with those questions as it lays out its twisted story, right up to the last few words.
I read it in one sitting, not being able to put it down. I need to get my hands on more Goodis.
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August 27, 2023"Al" is running from the police; a gang of thieves takes him in. They think he can be of use to them, but he isn't what he seems...
This is the sixth David Goodis roman noir I've read and I realize that he basically recycles plot points and characters with each book. Like The Burglar, the characters are a tightly-connected "family" of losers, whose jealousies, insecurities, and paranoia ultimately . Like Street of No Return, the low-lifes are an older man who is the "brains" of the outfit; an unattractive older woman; an attractive younger woman; the "muscle" of the group; etc. Like Shoot the Piano Player, a woman with whom our protagonist makes an instantaneous connection for no apparent reason will . Like Dark Passage, Al is an . I could go on, but you get the idea.
All the usual noir characteristics suffuse these books: the gloominess, the cynicism, the sense of doom. The dark cities are bleak; the smoke heavy; the crimes less important than the affect. There's no question that Mr. Goodis is an effective writer, but after a while his books bring nothing new to this particular table. And, in this case, our main character really is -- to borrow a horror movie trope -- TSTL. It's less fate that does him in than his own ludicrous decisions. In addition, there are several plot holes and character inconsistencies: How does Al, given his background, know how to do the things he does? If Charley is so ruthless, than why does he ?
For the first half of the book, I thought this would be the literary version of "Yojimbo" or "A Fistful of Dollars" -- where one morally gray character with a unique moral code plays the criminals against each other. Sadly, that was not the case. If I had read this book first, I might have felt differently, but it's too much of a retread of all that Mr. Goodis has attempted before.
This is the sixth David Goodis roman noir I've read and I realize that he basically recycles plot points and characters with each book. Like The Burglar, the characters are a tightly-connected "family" of losers, whose jealousies, insecurities, and paranoia ultimately . Like Street of No Return, the low-lifes are an older man who is the "brains" of the outfit; an unattractive older woman; an attractive younger woman; the "muscle" of the group; etc. Like Shoot the Piano Player, a woman with whom our protagonist makes an instantaneous connection for no apparent reason will . Like Dark Passage, Al is an . I could go on, but you get the idea.
All the usual noir characteristics suffuse these books: the gloominess, the cynicism, the sense of doom. The dark cities are bleak; the smoke heavy; the crimes less important than the affect. There's no question that Mr. Goodis is an effective writer, but after a while his books bring nothing new to this particular table. And, in this case, our main character really is -- to borrow a horror movie trope -- TSTL. It's less fate that does him in than his own ludicrous decisions. In addition, there are several plot holes and character inconsistencies: How does Al, given his background, know how to do the things he does? If Charley is so ruthless, than why does he ?
For the first half of the book, I thought this would be the literary version of "Yojimbo" or "A Fistful of Dollars" -- where one morally gray character with a unique moral code plays the criminals against each other. Sadly, that was not the case. If I had read this book first, I might have felt differently, but it's too much of a retread of all that Mr. Goodis has attempted before.
June 22, 2018
introdotto da una copertina che più pulp non si può, "venerdì nero" è l'ennesimo tuffo nel mondo di david goodis.
ormai si sa cosa aspettarsi: uomini con storie personali ormai quasi al capolinea, mondi criminali dove la vita umana non vale nulla, e una pesante sensazione di sconfitta.
qui abbiamo hart, uomo con un bel passato alle spalle e un presente di ricercato per omicidio, che finisce per essere parte della banda di delinquenti, una situazione in cui ogni pagina ti spinge a pensare "qui finisce malissimo", e in cui non sembra esserci una via d'uscita.
neanche a dirlo finisce davvero malissimo, ma goodis non è mai stato scrittore da lieto fine consolatorio: quella che ha imbastito è una lunga partita a poker (e non è un caso che quel gioco spunti spesso nel libro) in cui bluffare è quasi obbligatorio e la posta in gioco è la sopravvivenza.
ok, i dialoghi sono del filone "linguaggio da VERI DURI", alcuni personaggi sfiorano lo stereotipo (tipo mattone, il classico ex pugile fortissimo ma stupido), la trama in fondo è semplice, ma la bravura di goodis è proprio nel creare grandi romanzi senza uscire da certe regole del genere (che -ricordo- era narrativa superpopolare: a molti lettori quelli elencati non dovevano sembrare dei difetti), e se lo trovate potrebbe essere un buon modo per scoprire un grandissimo perdente del noir.
ormai si sa cosa aspettarsi: uomini con storie personali ormai quasi al capolinea, mondi criminali dove la vita umana non vale nulla, e una pesante sensazione di sconfitta.
qui abbiamo hart, uomo con un bel passato alle spalle e un presente di ricercato per omicidio, che finisce per essere parte della banda di delinquenti, una situazione in cui ogni pagina ti spinge a pensare "qui finisce malissimo", e in cui non sembra esserci una via d'uscita.
neanche a dirlo finisce davvero malissimo, ma goodis non è mai stato scrittore da lieto fine consolatorio: quella che ha imbastito è una lunga partita a poker (e non è un caso che quel gioco spunti spesso nel libro) in cui bluffare è quasi obbligatorio e la posta in gioco è la sopravvivenza.
ok, i dialoghi sono del filone "linguaggio da VERI DURI", alcuni personaggi sfiorano lo stereotipo (tipo mattone, il classico ex pugile fortissimo ma stupido), la trama in fondo è semplice, ma la bravura di goodis è proprio nel creare grandi romanzi senza uscire da certe regole del genere (che -ricordo- era narrativa superpopolare: a molti lettori quelli elencati non dovevano sembrare dei difetti), e se lo trovate potrebbe essere un buon modo per scoprire un grandissimo perdente del noir.
March 1, 2018
Realmente me sorprendió mucho y me atrapó desde el inicio hasta el final, una novela negra fascinante. Trata sobre la vida de Hart luego de cometer un acto (que no mencionaré) que lo lleva a huir de la justicia y a vivir una serie de situaciones que lo pondrán a prueba en cuanto a la lealtad, amor, destreza, confianza, etc. Lo recomiendo aunque debo decir que por el género del libro suceden situaciones muy fuertes para las que se recomienda amplio criterio. Lo punteo con cinco estrellas debido a su calidad en general.
March 27, 2019
One of the most brutal crime novels ever written. This book made such an impression on me that the story of this book entered a dream of mine, commingled with a Black Friday shopping experience. This is one of Goddis's best! A wildly troubled man on the lam who gets involved with a bunch of crazy criminals in Philly. The dedication here to the bitter personalities is wonderful. You really FEEL this book. It is beautifully unsettling. The robbery attempt near the end is a masterful depiction of small-time hubris gone horribly awry. Highly recommended!
July 16, 2022
I wanted t read this because I thought it would be a heist novel, but it turned out to be more of a pre-heist one. A guy who is down on his luck joins a gang that is preparing to burgle a mansion on the outskirts of Philadelphia. But most of the book is taken up with the gang sitting around and waiting for the planned night to arrive. Meanwhile, they just sit around and get on each others' nerves. There are some interesting moments and nice turns of phrase from Goodis, but I found myself losing some interest after a while. Still, I enjoyed it overall.
October 15, 2023
<< Ce vendredi là serait peut-être un jour funeste. Peut-être pas, après tout. >>
🗞️ Un homme en fuite se réfugie dans un groupe de bandits. Forcément ce qui devait arriver arriva : il va se retrouver impliqué dans des opérations illégales...
🕯️Ce roman a des relents de théâtre de l'absurde avec des personnages qui n'arrivent pas à communiquer tout en parlant bien trop, d'autres qui ne savent pas où ils vont tout en y allant. Du pathos et de la folie : un peu à la Beckett finalement.
🦴 L'ambiance du roman est très sombre et très glauque. Tout le monde est enchevêtré dans les évènements. Il pourra carrément plaire à un.e fada de romans noirs.
🔪 Bon même si je n'ai pas su apprécier ce roman à sa juste valeur, le titre tombait teeeeellement bien que je me suis lancée après pas mal de mois / années (?) dans ma PAL.
🐙 Que pensez-vous des vendredi 13 ? Êtes-vous superstitieux ?
🗞️ Un homme en fuite se réfugie dans un groupe de bandits. Forcément ce qui devait arriver arriva : il va se retrouver impliqué dans des opérations illégales...
🕯️Ce roman a des relents de théâtre de l'absurde avec des personnages qui n'arrivent pas à communiquer tout en parlant bien trop, d'autres qui ne savent pas où ils vont tout en y allant. Du pathos et de la folie : un peu à la Beckett finalement.
🦴 L'ambiance du roman est très sombre et très glauque. Tout le monde est enchevêtré dans les évènements. Il pourra carrément plaire à un.e fada de romans noirs.
🔪 Bon même si je n'ai pas su apprécier ce roman à sa juste valeur, le titre tombait teeeeellement bien que je me suis lancée après pas mal de mois / années (?) dans ma PAL.
🐙 Que pensez-vous des vendredi 13 ? Êtes-vous superstitieux ?
February 29, 2024
Realmente me sorprendió mucho y me atrapó desde el inicio hasta el final, una novela negra fascinante. Trata sobre la vida de Hart luego de cometer un acto (que no mencionaré) que lo lleva a huir de la justicia y a vivir una serie de situaciones que lo pondrán a prueba en cuanto a la lealtad, amor, destreza, confianza, etc. Lo recomiendo aunque debo decir que por el género del libro suceden situaciones muy fuertes para las que se recomienda amplio criterio. Lo punteo con cinco estrellas debido a su calidad en general.
May 16, 2019
Goodis, l'auteur, a vécu parmi les marginalisés et la pègre, et il les a décrit dans ses romands, ou se melange la dureté des professionnels du crime avec leurs propre humanisme. Un très bon roman.
عاش المؤلف الروائي "غوديس" بين المهمشين والمجرمين، وكتب رواياته عنهم، حيث يمتزج الإجرام بأكثر الأحاسيس الإنسانية عمقاً. رواية من الأدب الكلاسيكي الأمريكي
عاش المؤلف الروائي "غوديس" بين المهمشين والمجرمين، وكتب رواياته عنهم، حيث يمتزج الإجرام بأكثر الأحاسيس الإنسانية عمقاً. رواية من الأدب الكلاسيكي الأمريكي
September 17, 2023
Black Friday, by David Goodis. 1954.
Noir is very much my preference when it comes to crime novels. Hard-boiled detective stories have their charm for sure, and I like those as well, but it's the bleak, dark psychological, nihilism of noir that really gets my blood pumping. Goodis' Black Friday fits that bill splendidly.
Noir is very much my preference when it comes to crime novels. Hard-boiled detective stories have their charm for sure, and I like those as well, but it's the bleak, dark psychological, nihilism of noir that really gets my blood pumping. Goodis' Black Friday fits that bill splendidly.
January 3, 2021
Una novela pulp entretenida que se lee prácticamente en una sentada. El sentimiento que nace entre Hart y Myrna me pareció abrupto y la resolución del robo en la mansión algo floja, pero el resto funciona bien. El final es sombrío.
August 28, 2017
Lo leí de casi una sentada, apenas lo dejé descansar una noche. Goodis es duro, crudo, violento y refleja toda esa depresión que azotó a los EUa en los años treinta. Goodis se hace adictivo.
December 30, 2018
An average book
December 3, 2021
Uno de mis últimos libros de retrete, que se va directo al expurgo. No está mal, pero le falta gracia, las relaciones entre los personajes son todas rarísimas y el final es abrupto.
February 26, 2022
Very strong start. Very weak middle. Strong, twist climax. Would have been better as a short story, with the middle section left out.
July 11, 2022
Al principio estaba bastante motivada con el libro, pero a medida que avanzaba se me hacia un poco pesado y lento
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