miker wrote:
"The hobo influence on the hardboiled genre is an interesting
connection. There's an essay in Madden's TOUGH GUY WRITERS OF
THE THIRTIES which specifically points to hobos as the origin
of the hardboiled P.I., and I've been wanting to read
Orwell's DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON and London's PEOPLE
OF THE ABYSS for a while. Sounds like maybe I should put
Tully's book on my list."
Jim Tully's BEGGARS OF LIFE is one of the best accounts of
life on the road. A key London book is his THE ROAD (1907).
The collection JACK LONDON ON THE ROAD edited by Richard W.
Etulain (Utah State University Press 1979) gathers together
all of London's other Hobo pieces as well as his tramp diary
from his 1894 trek across the country.
Also recommended is THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A SUPER-TRAMP (1917)
by William H. Davies. Davies tramped across North America
before he lost a foot trying to jump a passenger train in
Canada near a town called Renfrew. He returned to his native
England where through his self-printed poetry he came to the
attention of George Bernard Shaw. Shaw helped Davies find a
publisher for his autobiography. It sold very well and Davies
enjoyed a long career as a poet. The book includes a chilling
recount of a Memphis lynching--all the more chilling because
of Davies' own racist observations.
I also admire Charles Willeford's I WAS LOOKING FOR A STREET
but I recall Mike read this last year and thought it rather
trifling.
Tully's book was made into a silent movie also called
"Beggars of Life" that starred the legendary Louise Brooks
and was directed by William Wellman. Wellman, who had many
adventures before reaching Hollywood, was interested enough
in hobo, and specifically, road kids, that he made the movie
"Wild Boys of the Road" in 1933. It is a powerful film worth
seeking out. I have never seen his "Beggars" but recall
reading that Brooks thought Tully was a seedy, drunken
oaf.
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