The Alcoholics

by Jim Thompson
1953

Different from the typical Jim Thompson thriller, this book is more funny, less dark, and with a much more sympathetic hero.  Plus, it was ahead of its time (1953) in more ways than one --- competent, capable black characters, for one thing, but also in its whole treatment of alcoholism, before A.A. was a well-known concept.  In parts, it read like a warning tract against alcoholism written by an old-timer A.A. man, but it was mainly very good. 

three stars