Painting noir in the blackest shades, Goodis captures the bleak desperation of the urban jungle like no other writer before or since.--Neon "Nobody does despair like [Goodis] did!"--Time Out Alvin Darby's comfortable, middle class lifestyle is plunged into turmoil when he begins to suspect his wife of adultery and is simultaneously haunted by memories of his childhood relationship with his sister. Alvin deserts the family home and moves to the Tenderloin where he takes up again with his ex-girlfriend, Geraldine, who is now a cocaine addict. There, he plans the murder of his old friend, Pete Lanson, whom he suspects of being his wife's lover. Born in Philadelphia in 1917, David Goodis was the author of many noir classics--Dark Passage, The Burglar, Moon in the Gutter, Shoot the Piano Player--many of which have been made into cult films. His books are currently enjoying a considerable revival of interest. David Goodis died in 1967.