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Jim Tully's (June 3, 1886 - June 22, 1947) critical and commercial
success in the 1920s and 30s may qualify him as the greatest long
shot in American literature. Born near St. Marys, Ohio, to an Irish
immigrant ditch-digger and his wife, Tully enjoyed a relatively happy
but impoverished childhood until the death of his mother in 1892.
Unable to care for him, his father sent him to an orphanage in Cincinnati.
He remained there for six years until the loneliness and misery became
more than he could bear. What further education he acquired came in
the hobo camps, boxcars, railroad yards, and public libraries scattered
across the country. Finally, weary of the road, he arrived in Kent,
Ohio, where he worked as a chain maker, professional boxer, and tree
surgeon. He also began to write, mostly poetry published in the local
newspapers. He moved to Hollywood in 1912, when he began writing in earnest.
His literary career took two distinct paths. He became one of the first
reporters to cover Hollywood. As a free-lancer he was not constrained by
the studios and wrote about Hollywood celebrities (including Charlie Chaplin,
for whom he had worked) in ways that they did not always find agreeable.
For these pieces, rather tame by current standards, he became known
as the most-hated man in Hollywood—a title he relished. Less lucrative
but closer to his heart were the dark novels he wrote about his life on
the road and the American underclass. He also wrote an affectionate
memoir of his childhood with his extended Irish family, as well as
novels on prostitution, boxing, Hollywood, and a travel book.
While some of the more graphic books ran afoul of the censors, they also
garnered both commercial success and critical acclaim from, among others,
H.L. Menken, George Jean Nathan, and Rupert Hughes, who wrote that Tully
"has fathered the school of hard-boiled writing so zealously cultivated
by Ernest Hemingway and lesser luminaries."
Find available items by: Jim Tully
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Books by Jim Tully
- Emmett Lawler. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922. No additional printings on copyright page.
- Beggars of Life. New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1924. States same dates (1924) on copyright page and title page.
- Jarnegan. New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1926. No additional printings on copyright page.
- Circus Parade. New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1927. No additional printings on copyright page.
- Twenty Below: Being a Drama of the Road by Nichols, Robert & Jim Tully
London: Robert Holden & Co., 1927. No additional printings on copyright page also
Limited edition of 100 copies.
- Shanty Irish. New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1928. No additional printings on copyright page.
- Shadows of Men. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1930. States "FIRST EDITION" on copyright page.
- Beggars Abroad. New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1930. States "FIRST EDITION" on copyright page.
- Blood on the Moon. New York: Coward-McCann, 1931. No additional printings on copyright page.
- A Man of the New School. Cincinnati: Greater Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati, 1931. Gold and red wraps with black letters, 7 pp.
- Laughter in Hell. New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1932. No additional printings on copyright page.
- Ladies in the Parlor. New York: Greenberg, 1935. No additional printings on copyright page.
- The Bruiser. New York: Greenberg, 1936. No additional printings on copyright page.
- Biddy Brogan’s BoyNew York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942. States "A" on copyright page.
- A Dozen and One. Hollywood: Murray & Gee, 1943. No additional printings on copyright page.
- Road Show. New York: Pyramid Books, 1953. Paperback reprint (Pyramid #92) of Circus Parade.
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Archer's Used & Rare Books.
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