A TREASURY OF DAMON RUNYON, BY DAMON RUNYON

Damon Runyon writes of the Broadway types of the 1930's, of guys and dolls, bookies, bootleggers, double-crossing sweethearts, race touts and more. A sample of his witty writing is "Hold 'Em Yale," where the narrator's friend is looking for a ticket scalper who cheated him. "In fact, the nearest Sam ever comes to a college is once when he is passing through the yard belonging to the Princetons, but Sam is on the fly at the time as a gendarme is after him, so he does not really see much of the college." Runyon is a forgotten genius, and I recommend him highly.