Nightmare Alley

Nightmare Alley is a novel by William Lindsay Gresham. It is a study of the lowest depths of showbiz and its sleazy inhabitants- the dark, shadowy world of a second rate carnival filled with hustlers, scheming grifters, and Machiavellian femme fatales.

Plot introduction

William Lindsay Gresham attributed the origin of Nightmare Alley to conversations he had with a former carnival worker while they were both serving as volunteers with the Loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War. Gresham wrote the novel, his first, while working as an editor for a "true crime" pulp magazine in New York City during the 1940s. He outlined the plot and wrote the first six chapters over a period of two years, then finished the book in four months. Each chapter is represented by a different Tarot card.

Editions

• (reprinted in) Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s, Robert Polito, ed. (Library of America, 1997) ISBN 978-1-883011-46-8
• 2010 reprint by New York Review Books ISBN 978-159017-348-0

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Nightmare Alley was also produced as a film noir motion picture starring Tyrone Power in 1947.

A graphic novel adaptation of the novel was produced by underground cartoonist Spain Rodriguez.

The novel has been adapted into a musical by Jonathan Brielle, and directed by Gil Cates. The musical opened on 21 April 2010 at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.^[1]

References