You Can't Win: A Story from Life

Synopsis

Much Of This Book Is About Loneliness. Yet Its Pages Are Bracingly Companionable. It Is One Of The Friendliest Books Ever Written. It Is A Superb Piece Of Autobiography, Testimony That Cannot Be Impeached. While It Is A Statement Of An American Tragedy, It Has Laughter, Brevity, Style; As A Book To Pass The Time Away With, It Is In A Class With The Best Fiction. — Carl Sandburg, New York World Nothing Half As Rewarding Has Come Down The Highway Of Books About Thieves, Tramps, Murderers, Bootleggers And Crooks In Years — New Republic I Believe Jack Black Has Written A Remarkable Book; It Is Vivid And Picturesque; It Is Not Fiction; It Is A Book That Was Needed And It Should Be Widely Read. — Clarence Darrow, New York Herald Tribune A Major Influence On William S. Burroughs And Other Beat Writers, This Lost Classic Was Written By Jack Black, A Drifter And Small-time Criminal. Born In 1872, Black Hit The Road At The Age Of 16 And Spent Most Of His Life As A Vagabond. In This Plainspoken But Colorful Memoir, He Recaptures A Hobo Underworld Of The Early Twentieth Century, A Time When It Was Possible To Pass Anonymously From Town To Town. Black's Firsthand Accounts Of Hopping Trains, Burglaries, Prison, And Drug Addiction Offer A Compelling Portrait Of Life Outside The Law And Honor Among Thieves.