The Devil's Stocking

Name: The Devil's Stocking
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: Nelson Algren
ISBN: 9781094070261

Author: Nelson Algren, Herbert Mitgang

Narrator: Kevin Kenerly

Unabridged: 9 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 12/14/2019

Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Noir, Sports

Synopsis

A boxer finds himself the targeted victim of a vindictive group in the story of one man’s battle against injustice in the dark underworld of urban America.The Devil’s Stocking is the story of Ruby Calhoun, a boxer accused of murder in a shadowy world of low-purse fighters, cops, con artists, and bar girls. Chronicling a battle for truth and human dignity which gives way to a larger story of life and death decisions, literary grandmaster Nelson Algren’s last novel is a fitting capstone to a long and brilliant career.

About Nelson Algren

Nelson Algren (1909–1981), now considered one of America’s finest novelists, was born in Detroit and lived most of his life in Chicago. His jobs included migrant worker, journalist, and medical worker. He is the author of five novels, including The Man with the Golden Arm, which was the winner of the first National Book Award.

About Kevin Kenerly

Kevin Kenerly, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, earned a BA at Olivet College. A longtime member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he has acted in more than twenty seasons, playing dozens of roles.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Shauna

My first read of Algren -- before this knew him only as Simone de Beauvoir's other boyfriend. As much as I enjoy the existentialists, it was a pleasant surprise that Algren wasn't bent that way at all. Devil's Stocking is a deeply moral book, grave, and offers an excellent portal on racial injustice......more

Goodreads review by Keith

Normally, you think of Nelson Algren as writing in the 1940s and '50s, about the '30s and '40s. Like his peer John Steinbeck, he was fundamentally shaped by the hard times and injustice of the Great Depression and the Second World War, and by a rather loose association with the pre-War Communist Par......more

Goodreads review by Guy

Algren’s last novel is an uneasy mix of his usual schtick concerning the shenanigans of whores and various lowlifes and a series of transcripts from a real murder trial. It’s not an especially compelling marriage but he’s always worth a read nonetheless.......more

Goodreads review by Brendan

Another fantastic outing; Algren managed to hold a firm grasp on his immense talent right until the end.......more

Goodreads review by Stefan Koepeknie

Nelson Algren="The bard of the stumblebum". Mostly a retelling of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's story.......more

Quotes

“The Devil’s Stocking is clearly vintage Algren…His language throughout the novel is precise, controlled, almost entirely free of the lush lyrical excesses of the past, but nonetheless genuinely warm and alive.” New York Times Book Review