The Damon Runyon Omnibus

by Damon Runyon

This is a book of humorous short stories about gangsters, bootleggers, gamblers, and their women inhabiting New York's Broadway. But this is not the Broadway of Cole Porter - the only shows are those with dancing girls. The stories are told in the third person, with the point of view that being a gambler or bootlegger is perfectly normal and respectable in every way. If you are familiar with the musical "Guys and Dolls", then you know what to expect. Very enjoyable. ( Amazon customer)

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Humor

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Such 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.

Reviews

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent compilation of the three classic books of Runyon's Broadway stories. Almost all the greats are here and it's a fine, full selection of one of the truly great comic writers of the 20th Century.

I first read some Runyon about 35 years ago and after a page or two of him was completely hooked. It's a joy throughout with very neatly constructed short stories, memorable characters and, above all, writing which can make me laugh out loud just through its style. If you need a sample of Runyon's wonderful, utterly distinctive prose, try this paragraph from the classic The Brain Goes Home:
"I once read a story about a guy by the name of King Solomon who lives a long time ago and who has a thousand dolls all at once, which is going in for dolls on a very large scale indeed, but I guarantee that all of King Solomon's dolls put together are not as expensive as any one of The Brain's dolls. The overhead on Doris Clare alone will drive an ordinary guy daffy, and Doris is practically frugal compared to Cynthia Harris and Bobby Baker."

Damon Runyon has been one of the joys of my life and, if you haven't already, I would urge you to try him. Very, very warmly recommended.

[Cornelis Broekhof · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waanzinnig goed, deze verhalen over de onderwereld in New York tijdens het interbellum. Ik krijg geen genoeg van het dieventaaltje, de bizarre bijnamen, de kostelijke verwikkelingen waarin de personages verzeild raken en bovenal de droge humor, schijnbaar onbedoeld, maar aldoor aanwezig en leidend, althans bij deze lezer, tot reacties van stilletjes grijnzen tot - veelvuldig - hardop lachen. Ik had nog nooit van deze schrijver gehoord totdat ik zijn naam tegenkwam in een biografie over Louis Armstrong, waarin de auteur Armstrongs manager Joe Glaser vergelijkt met de personages uit de verhalen van Damon Runyan.

[Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first all you're conscious of is the style. Then the sheer cleverness of the stories. And finally the characterisation of a city and an era. It's a shame Runyon only seems to get mentioned in the context of "Guys and Dolls" (just the greatest musical of all time, btw) because as I am telling Porky Davidson, this guy knows which end of a pen is which and he is just swell.

[Wilson Lanue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three of Runyon's best collections (Guys and Dolls, Money From Home, Blue Plate Special) in one volume.

Don't take the myth too seriously, just enjoy the ride through whimsical crime writing and a time when working men wore hats. If a story here and there makes you smile, that's what it's there for.

[Myron M · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was unusually difficult for me to find a copy of the original "Guys and Dolls" collection, since just about every Runyon anthology these days has that title. I finally found this book, which is a three-in-one, and so really I should get to count this one as 3 books, but I'll be a good boy and just count it 1.

Every story in the Damon Runyon Favorites paperback I read previously appears in one of these three books, Guys and Dolls, Money from Home, and Blue Plate Special. I'll have to check out some bibliographies before reading further, and put together a reading list that will minimize duplication.

[Hjhatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Characters

As usual, most of these short little tales present a host of interesting characters in a wide variety of situations…some endearing or sad (The Lemon Drop Kid) and some just downright funny. Great collection. Just what one needs for a winters night by the fire! Enjoy!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

So utterly wonderful...a unique, great American writer. He reads like music. I can't recommend enough. One of the best promises you could make to yourself for 2010 or any year would be to pick up one of his collections and immerse yourself in Runyon's Broadway/World.

Cheers.

[Eir Eene · Rating 5 out of 5]

H.L. Menken would have been proud. (And, actually, I think he was a fan.) Nobody does language like Damon Runyon! 1930's storytelling at its finest.

[Mike Malony · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were so much fun!
I was actually reading a library book printed in 1944 by The Sun Dial Press, Garden City, New York. It was just over 500 pages and 30+ short stories. This one book is a compilation of 3 collections: 'Guys and Dolls', 'Money from Home' and 'Blue Plate Special', and I'm curious if it was recovered by a library as a hard cover, since it's paperback sized. Just one more thing to learn about.
I did not contain the stories that inspired the play and movie Guys and Dolls, despite the title. but that did not affect my love of these stories, just means I have more to track down for later.
If you like the runyonesk speach patterns, stories of gambling, tough guys and the streets of the big city, with lots of laughs and just a few jokers taking their final laps, this is the place to go.

[Judith Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

With three books in one omnibus, I very much enjoyed re-reading these stories. The anonymous narrator, always on the edge of any really nefarious deeds, but often drawn into the action by Harry the Horse, Big Jule, Rusty Charley, Dave the Dude etc relates the tales of the guys and dolls of Broadway around the time of prohibition. The language is delightful and I could almost hear it in a broad 'Noo Yoik' accent.
Excellent for dipping in and out of a couple of stories at a time. Will undoubtedly read again at some point.

[PB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this book of marvellous short stories, it doesn’t have all of Damon’s stories but there are a lot and it is a great way to read a couple of stories between jobs or other reads. His language is so wonderful, the slang and the nicknames like Nicely-Nicely Jones, Harry the Horse, Dave the Dude take you to an exciting New York with dames with gams, John Roscoe’s, games of chance, illicit speakeasies, football games between the Harvards and the Yales, and larger than life characters. This is the 10th time I’ve read it and it is fantastic each time.

[Sue Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories

For any one who has seen the film Guys and Dolls or The Lemon Drop kid or little miss marker. You have seen this authors work on the screen usual a combination of his short stories brought together for the Screen Play. Written during and reflecting the probation era. The way they talk has the unique style and inflection of Guys and Dolls. It takes a few pages to get use to the style once that has been done sit back and enjoy the ride. Recommend.

[Johnny Le Bon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a truly enjoyable book. Short stories are not my first love, but these stories were sheer delight.
I enjoyed the characters, the slang, the humor.

[Sage Ardman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barely known today, but once quite famous. I love the style.

[Socraticist · Rating 5 out of 5]

So entertaining. Full of humour and skewed insights on the human condition.
I read these stories as a palate cleanse between readings of more serious literature.

[James Barringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no one like Runyon. Eternal gratitude to my Dad and Grandpa for introducing me to this magnificent world.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got quite a kick out of this book, written in the patois of the New York City streets CA the 1920's and 30's. Runyon has a field day making up names for his characters. Among the horse players, gangsters, and bookmakers, we meet the likes of Willie the Worrier (who worries about his low bank account and his ever loving wife, but mostly his wife), Harry the Horse, Dave the Dude, NIcely Nicely Jones (who when asked how he's doing always replies "nicely, nicely), and Chesty Charles (so called because he has a "chest like a tub and he walks with it stuck out in front of him... because if he pulls it in his stomach will take its place only farther down, and Charles does not wish his stomach to show in this manner as he likes to think he has a nice shape.") Characters are almost always called by their full names, and the general lack of contractions give this a distinctive style. Modern readers may find cause for offense in that women are always referred to as "judys, or dolls (think "Guys and Dolls", also by Damon Runyon), and that the principal characters are almost exclusively straight, white, and male. If you are lucky enough to have access to old time radio shows, check out Damon Runyon Theater where many of these stories were dramatized, and it is fun, more than somewhat, to hear these characters speak.