What do you think?
Rate this book
Vagabond Nights #1
The Skull of the Waltzing Clown
Before George Stannard left Honolulu, he took a parting drink with a man he disliked. Neither did the man like him. In one of the glasses was a Hawaiian concoction which did strange things to men. 'Here's how!' As the drinks went down, each man thought he had outwitted the other.
"George Stannard later went to Chicago to meet his eccentric uncle, Simon Stannard, collector of old safes. In one of these safes had lain the weird secret of the skull of the waltzing clown.
"It is about that secret and the romance between its holder and Miss 'O Lily Sing Lee' that this new Keeler novel gyrates as dizzily as a sky-writing plane -- except that, at the end, all the strokes in the sky spell Plot, Mystery and Drama -- in that extraordinary Keeler way!
"George Stannard later went to Chicago to meet his eccentric uncle, Simon Stannard, collector of old safes. In one of these safes had lain the weird secret of the skull of the waltzing clown.
"It is about that secret and the romance between its holder and Miss 'O Lily Sing Lee' that this new Keeler novel gyrates as dizzily as a sky-writing plane -- except that, at the end, all the strokes in the sky spell Plot, Mystery and Drama -- in that extraordinary Keeler way!
172 pages
First published January 1, 1934
70 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 11, 2015
George, el narrador, es requerido por su tío Simon Stannard para discutir sobre algo de gran importancia. Y es que Simon desea proponerle un trato a su sobrino, con dinero, una deuda pendiente, una estafa al seguro y un cráneo de por medio.
‘El cráneo del clown bailarín’ (The Skull of the Waltzing Clown, 1935), de Harry Stephen Keeler, tiene un genial comienzo, con la descripción del funcionamiento de La revista de las siete novelas, editada por Simon, candidato a la Alcaldía por el partido de los descontentos, y uno de los mayores coleccionistas de cajas de caudales del país. La historia es compleja y está perfectamente tramada, teniendo su importancia las cartas y los encuentros en varias líneas temporales. Los personajes secundarios son muy buenos, y el final es brillante. Fantástica novela del genial Keeler.
‘El cráneo del clown bailarín’ (The Skull of the Waltzing Clown, 1935), de Harry Stephen Keeler, tiene un genial comienzo, con la descripción del funcionamiento de La revista de las siete novelas, editada por Simon, candidato a la Alcaldía por el partido de los descontentos, y uno de los mayores coleccionistas de cajas de caudales del país. La historia es compleja y está perfectamente tramada, teniendo su importancia las cartas y los encuentros en varias líneas temporales. Los personajes secundarios son muy buenos, y el final es brillante. Fantástica novela del genial Keeler.
Displaying 1 of 1 review