Pulp Fiction discussion

Benjamin Appel, born in Hell’s Kitchen, wrote action-packed, painfully explicit novels about the octopus-like corruption that the predatory union bosses and their political Siamese twins wrought. He covers the upperworld, underworld, and the cash-poor, hungry, and bitter households along the Hudson and East Rivers. “Everything sewn, cash on the line, who did you know in the back room.”

In addition to his social novels, this consummate professional writer accomplished the folllowing: a series for young adult books (“The Prologue To…” series), novels about JD, GIs engaging in PLUNDER after the war in the Pacific, a bio of Hitler, studies of the post war Russians, the Israelis, the Chinese, and Sci Fi fiction—all while writing works like BRAIN GUY, SWEET MONEY GIRL (perhaps his only pbk original), A BIG MAN A FAST MAN, DOCK WALLOPER, and LIFE AND DEATH OF A TOUGH GUY. And you thought pulp magazine writers worked fast.

THE RAW EDGE (1958, Random House; pbk, Dell, 1959) is about the rampant NY waterfront corruption. The tone is pitch perfect: "A bruiser built like a box, the face with nose and ears poking out like rubble. "Appel uses real names: O'Dwyer, Kid Twist, Costello. The book centers around a real event: The murder of a dissident dockworker, Pete Panto, with so much guts that his murderer did not want to strangle him. But he owed too much to Frank Costello. In the novel, this is Pete Peroni, who feels that La Guardia’s honesty will spell relief for the dock wallopers who for so long had endured low pay, theft of incoming cargo, unfair dues, and extortionate loans. They got ensnared in numbers, rum and rotgut, gambling and whoring.

It takes way more than guts to untie the Gordian knot. Pete thinks he can handle the threats from Joe the Boss. But it is not Joe but another hit man whose car, its “white-yellow eyes streaming in a white-yellow shower,” killed Pete instantly. His widow “screams out of a face that was not her face.”

The driver thinks getting ahead means having guts to solve problems others just let ride. There it is – the actions of good guys and bad guys (LaGuardia v Murder Ink; William O’Dwyer v. Kid Twist) are the same, even if their values and allegiances are opposites.

Appel is at his best when describing a wildcat strike and the febrile dance of strikers, scabs, reporters, cops, and negotiators, until compromise is reached. The weariness with which the dock workers intone “back to work” summarizes the submission to a brutal and paralyzing regimen. .
“The rules: this force that no man controlled… the rules that were like narrow corridors in the huge prison that was the city.”
THE RAW EDGE remind one of ON THE WATERFRONT. But the latter ends with the workers’ vindication, thanks to the right-minded congressional investigation and the two-fisted priest. Appel keeps his eye on the facts on he ground. Andy Pironi gets his revenge, and the book end with his impending execution. He has one path to salvation left, and it is searing. He donates his eyes to medicine. The funereal final line: “When will we see straight? When?

I've never heard of Benjamin Appel until now but he sounds like an interesting person, both as a historical figure and as an author.

and versatile. My favorite book of hs in _Sweet Money girl_. It is not at all a crime story, but it tells so much about what New York promises and snatches away if one cannot tell who s/he is and what success really is. Descriptions of Times Square and party life are eye-opening.

thanks! I'll keep an eye out for his books next time I'm at a flea market or antique bookstore!