You Can't Win (book)

Last updated
You Can't Win
You can't win jack black first edition.jpg
First edition cover
Author Jack Black
Published1926
PublisherMacmillan

You Can't Win is an autobiography by burglar and hobo Jack Black, written in the early to mid-1920s and first published in 1926. It describes Black's life on the road, in prison and his various criminal capers in the American and Canadian west from the late 1880s to early 20th century. The book was a major influence upon William S. Burroughs and other Beat writers.

Contents

Summary

The book tells of Black's experiences in the hobo underworld, freight-hopping around the western United States and Canada, with the majority of events taking place from the late 1880s to around 1910. He tells of becoming a thief, burglar, and member of the yegg (safe-cracking) subculture, exploring the topics of crime, criminal justice, vice, addictions, penology, and human folly from various viewpoints, from observer to consumer to supplier, and from victim to perpetrator.

Publication

You Can't Win originally appeared in serial format in the San Francisco Call-Bulletin under the editorship of Fremont Older. [1] It was so popular that it was reissued in book format by MacMillan and became a best-seller. [1] It has been translated into Russian, Swedish, French, and other languages. [1]

After the book's publication, Black spent several years lecturing at women's clubs and lived in New York. Black spent his summers in a cabin on Fremont Older's property in California, next to a pool. [1] When MacMillan asked Black to write another book, he was too weak even to swim, according to Mrs. Fremont Older. [1] He didn't write another book.

Themes and analysis

The main criminal activity of Black's life and of the book is thievery, which leads to discussions of various technical aspects of the thief's "trade", including casing of prospects (surveillance of targets), safe-cracking, fencing of stolen goods, the disposal of evidence, maintaining aliases and avoiding attention or traceability, the social networks of criminals, the experiences of being arrested, questioned, and tried, and the experience of doing time in jails and prisons.

The vices and addictions Black discusses include alcoholism, abuse of opium (hop), gambling, prostitution, and stealing. In his own telling, Black does not seem to have an especial weakness for addictions (for example, he did not become alcoholic himself), but he does describe the addictive allure that gambling and opium held for him in various stages of his life. He expresses an opinion that drug addiction is more psychological than physical; nevertheless, he also admits that breaking himself of a daily opium habit was the toughest battle of his life.

Themes that Black explores through anecdotes from his life include:

Reception

William S. Burroughs first read the book as an adolescent and cited You Can't Win as influential in his life and writing, mentioning the autobiography in his 1953 book Junkie . [2] He wrote a foreword to the 1988 edition of You Can't Win which was reprinted in the 2000 edition.

Adaptations

The book has been adapted to a film titled You Can't Win (in post-production as of January 2020) starring Julia Garner, Jeremy Allen White and Michael Pitt, who co-produced and co-wrote the screenplay. [3] [4]

Editions

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William S. Burroughs</span> American writer and visual artist (1914–1997)

William Seward Burroughs II was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular culture and literature. Burroughs wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays, and five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences; he was initially briefly known by the pen name William Lee. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, made many appearances in films, and created and exhibited thousands of visual artworks, including his celebrated "shotgun art".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Seale</span> Co-founder of the Black Panther Party (born 1936)

Robert George Seale is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", the Party's main practice was monitoring police activities and challenging police brutality in Black communities, first in Oakland, California, and later in cities throughout the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobo</span> Migratory worker or homeless vagabond

A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps, and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; a bum neither travels nor works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beat Generation</span> Literary movement

The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generationers in the 1950s, better known as Beatniks. The central elements of Beat culture are the rejection of standard narrative values, making a spiritual quest, the exploration of American and Eastern religions, the rejection of economic materialism, explicit portrayals of the human condition, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, and sexual liberation and exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. Gordon Liddy</span> American FBI agent, lawyer and Watergate criminal (1930–2021)

George Gordon Battle Liddy was an American lawyer and FBI agent who was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration.

<i>Naked Lunch</i> 1959 novel by William S. Burroughs

Naked Lunch is a 1959 novel by American Beat generation writer William S. Burroughs. The novel does not follow a clear linear plot, but is instead structured as a series of non-chronological "routines". Many of these routines follow William Lee, an opioid addict who travels to the surreal city of Interzone and begins working for the organization "Islam Inc."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Dellinger</span> American pacifist and activist

David T. Dellinger was an American pacifist and an activist for nonviolent social change. Although active beginning in the early 1940s, Dellinger reached peak prominence as one of the Chicago Seven, who were put on trial in 1969.

<i>Nova Express</i> Novel by William S. Burroughs

Nova Express is a 1964 novel by American author William S. Burroughs. It was written using the 'fold-in' method, a version of the cut-up method, developed by Burroughs with Brion Gysin, of enfolding snippets of different texts into the novel. It is part of The Nova Trilogy, or "Cut-Up Trilogy', together with The Soft Machine and The Ticket That Exploded. Burroughs considered the trilogy a "sequel" or "mathematical" continuation of Naked Lunch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Vollmer</span> Member of the Beat Generation cultural movement

Joan Vollmer was an influential participant in the early Beat Generation circle. While a student at Barnard College, she became the roommate of Edie Parker. Their apartment became a gathering place for the Beats during the 1940s, where Vollmer was often at the center of marathon, all-night discussions. In 1946, she began a relationship with William S. Burroughs, later becoming his common-law wife. In 1951, Burroughs killed Vollmer. He claimed, and shortly thereafter denied, the killing was a drunken attempt at playing William Tell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Huncke</span> American writer and poet

Herbert Edwin Huncke was an American writer and poet, and an active participant in a number of emerging cultural, social and aesthetic movements of the 20th century in America. He was a member of the Beat Generation and is reputed to have coined the term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Black (author)</span> American writer and criminal (1871–1932)

Jack Black (1871–1932) was a Canadian and American hobo and burglar. Black is best known for his autobiography You Can't Win, describing his days on the road and life as an outlaw. Black's book was written as an anti-crime book urging criminals to go straight, but it is also his statement of belief in the futility of prisons and the criminal justice system, hence the title of the book. Jack Black was writing from experience, having spent thirty years as a travelling criminal, and offers tales of being a cross-country stick-up man, home burglar, petty thief, and opium addict. He gained fame as a prison reformer, writer, and playwright. He disappeared in 1932 in a likely suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William S. Burroughs Jr.</span> American novelist

William Seward Burroughs III, also known as William S. Burroughs Jr. and Billy Burroughs, was an American novelist. He bears the name of his father, William S. Burroughs, as well as his great-grandfather, William Seward Burroughs I, the inventor of the Burroughs adding machine. He wrote three novels, two of which were published as Speed (1970) and Kentucky Ham (1973). His third novel, Prakriti Junction, begun in 1977, was never completed, although extracts from it were included in his third and final published work Cursed From Birth.

<i>Junkie</i> (novel) 1953 novel by William S. Burroughs

Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict, or Junky, is a 1953 novel by American Beat generation writer William S. Burroughs. The book follows "William Lee" as he struggles with his addiction to morphine and heroin. Burroughs based the story on his own experiences with drugs, and he published it under the pen name William Lee. Some critics view the character William Lee as simply Burroughs himself; in this reading, Junkie is a largely-autobiographical memoir. Others view Lee as a fictional character based on the author.

<i>Confessions of an English Opium-Eater</i> Account of Thomas De Quniceys opium addiction

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821) is an autobiographical account written by Thomas De Quincey, about his laudanum addiction and its effect on his life. The Confessions was "the first major work De Quincey published and the one that won him fame almost overnight".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Henry Abbott</span> American Author, murderer

Jack Henry Abbott was an American criminal and author. With a long history of criminal convictions, Abbott's writing concerning his life and experiences was lauded by a number of well-known literary critics, including author Norman Mailer. Due partly to lobbying by Mailer and others on Abbott's behalf, Abbott was released from prison in 1981 where he was serving sentences for forgery, manslaughter, and bank robbery. Abbott's memoir In the Belly of the Beast was published with positive reviews soon after his release. Six weeks after being paroled from prison, Abbott stabbed and killed a waiter outside a New York City cafe. Abbott was convicted and sent back to prison, where he killed himself in 2002.

<i>Desolation Angels</i> (novel) 1965 novel by Jack Kerouac

Desolation Angels is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac, which makes up part of his Duluoz Legend. It was published in 1965, but was written years earlier, around the time On the Road was in the process of publication. The events described in the novel take place from 1956-1957. Much of the psychological struggle which the novel's protagonist, Jack Duluoz, undergoes in the novel reflects Kerouac's own increasing disenchantment with the Buddhist philosophy. Throughout the novel, Kerouac discusses his disenchantment with fame, and complicated feelings towards the Beat Generation. He also discusses his relationship with his mother and his friends such as Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, Lucienn Carr and William S. Burroughs. The novel is also notable for being a relatively positive portrayal of homosexuality and homosexual characters, despite its use of words that were at the time considered homophobic slurs.

A low-life is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community. Examples of people society often labels low-lives include aggressive panhandlers, bullies, criminals, drug dealers, freeloaders, hobos, gangsters, people who make constant use of profanities, prostitutes, pimps, scammers, sexual abusers and thieves.

Jack Olsen was an American journalist and author known for his crime reporting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sile Doty</span> American outlaw

Sile Doty was a robber, burglar, horse thief, highwayman, counterfeiter, and criminal gang leader. Stewart Holbrook says that Doty "was, before the James-Younger era, the most energetic and notorious all-around bandit in the United States." Doty's criminal career is known primarily through his autobiography, compiled by J. G. W. Colburn and published four years after Doty's death as The Life of Sile Doty The Most Noted Thief and Daring Burglar of His Time. As this title suggests, the tone of the autobiography is boastful and unapologetic. Doty excuses his crimes as stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Except where otherwise noted, what follows is taken from the autobiography and may contain exaggerations and self-serving distortions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Hope</span> American burglar, bank robber and pickpocket

John Hope (1856–1906) was a 19th-century American burglar, bank robber and pickpocket. The son of James "Old Jimmy" Hope, he was alleged to have been associated with his father and the George Leslie Gang. He was among those arrested for the 1878 robbery of the Manhattan Savings Institution although he and Billy Kelly were the only men actually sent to prison for this crime.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cora Miranda Baggerly Older (1955). "Biography of Fremont Older". Museum of the City of San Francisco. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  2. Burroughs, Williams (2012). Junky: The Definitive Text of "Junk". New York: Grove Press. pp.  2. ISBN   978-0802120427.
  3. "You Can't Win (2019)". IMDb . Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  4. Adam Chitwood (April 18, 2012). "Michael Pitt to Write, Produce, and Star in Adaptation of YOU CAN'T WIN". collider.com. Retrieved January 23, 2015.