Great Stories

About some bad times

I just finished reading a collection of Damon Runyon stories. They are all great stories and they taught me something about what a story is. All of them were completely unreal. The events in the stories ran the gamut from wildly unlikely to utterly preposterous. Most of the protagonists were wildly overblown caricatures. And none of it really mattered; they were great stories and I read the whole (admittedly short) book straight through. So much for realism.

Tales of not-so-great people

Living in not-so-great times

In this case, it helped that the characters were cartoonish because if the events in these stories had seemed realistic, they would have been unsettling or worse. Most of the characters are career criminals including several very active murderers. For the rest, they are a motley collection of grifters, thieves, lowlifes and many, many bootleggers. And therein lies the kernel of the matter, for these stories were written and set in the days of prohibition. One of the unintended consequences of making something that almost everyone did illegal was that illegal behavior became socially acceptable. George Raft's reputed mob ties helped his career and in Anything Goes a stowaway achieves social success by pretending to be a famous mobster.

Lesson: Remake the World Very Carefully

It might not turn out as you expected

Most people know about Prohibition and about the 13 year eruption of criminality that it produced. This is the benefit of hindsight. One of the benefits of reading old books is the insight they can give into what things looked like at the time. At the same time I read Runyon I was also reading Jack London's John Barleycorn, London's account of his descent into alcoholism. London begins his story by telling how he came to vote for women's suffrage because he thought the women's vote would bring prohibition and solve his problem. I recall another piece written at about the same time by an educated observer who was neither a teetotaler nor an alcoholic who anticipated that once prohibition became law, he and everyone else would simply quit drinking.

We are much smarter now

So we needn't worry about making similar mistakes again

As I write this the nation is undergoing a number of unexpected political events. And marijuana decriminalization is becoming more widespread with every election. I do not pretend to have any idea how either of these forces will play out: golden age of creativity and elegant cuisine or descent into a trackless slough of stoner sloth. I am certain however, that there will be some surprises.

Bad Times can Make Good Stories

And we can enjoy the stories even though we might not have liked the times

As I have already said, Damon Runyon is one of American's great story tellers. If you like you can get this book and see for yourself. Since my copy of this book is in rough shape, I'm only asking two bucks for it. But I can guarantee that you will enjoy these stories more than somewhat.