Tully, Jim – Jarnegan

Description

Tully, Jim ‘Jarnegan’ 1926 1st ed. boxing novel. Albert & Charles Boni, New York. 265-pages, very good condition, no dust jacket.

Jarnegan is the seminal 1926 novel by Jim Tully that holds a significant place in literary history as one of the very first raw, exposes written about the silent-film era of Hollywood.
Tully drew the material directly from his personal experiences in Southern California. After rising out of poverty as a hobo and prize fighter, he spent the early 1920s working in the studio system—even spending a tumultuous stint working directly as a publicist and companion to Charlie Chaplin. H.L. Mencken famously championed the book’s grit, comparing Tully’s ability to expose the miseries and realities of desperate people to that of Maxim Gorky.

Content Summary:
The story follows Jack Jarnegan, a fiercely violent, hard-drinking former convict and roughneck from Ohio. After accidentally killing a man in a brawl and serving time, Jarnegan drifts out to the nascent movie-making capital of Southern California.
Through sheer intimidation, raw willpower, and a chaotic stroke of luck, he fast-talks his way into the industry and ascends to become one of the most acclaimed, big-shot directors in early Hollywood. The narrative acts as a cynical, pull-no-punches deconstruction of the “dream factory,” peeling back the glitz to expose the exploitation, seedy studio politics, alcoholism, and moral vacuum powering the silent film industry. The character of Jarnegan was heavily modeled after Tully’s real-life friend, the famous silent film director James Cruze.

Physical Bibliographic Description:
• Publisher: Albert & Charles Boni, New York (1926 First Edition)
• Length: 265 pages
• Binding: Hardcover bound in a distinct two-toned design, featuring a black cloth spine over green cloth-covered boards. The spine and front cover feature titles and minimalist decorative elements stamped in gold gilt.