Pal Joey by John O'Hara

"That is my way of putting it that I am on the bread line only I am still a little better off."



One of my all time favourite Hollywood musicals would have to be Pal Joey, it has Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak along with some amazing songs. It would come as no surprise then, that I wanted to read the source novel.

Perhaps my only quibble with the movie, was the strange way of speaking that Frank Sinatra's character Joey effected. Having read the source novel I can certainly see where the speech patterns came from.

The novel is made up of a number of letters from Joey to his fr-enemy Ted. They detail his run ins with "mice", nightclub owners and his never-ending efforts to look sharp and stay liquid.

I much prefer O'Hara's other works, yet this is an interesting collection of entertaining vignettes.

 4 out of 5 that man's a mousetrap