Written in the 1940s it’s centred around the the world and the people of the carnival in 1930s America. Nightmare Alley examines the covert dishonesty of its main protagonist, Stanton Carlisle, briefly touching on traumas from his childhood - a ‘conman’ who is unceasingly on the run from his own psychological demons. Such a brilliant opening chapter and then so many twists and turns. This book is brilliant, really well written, good story which kept me interested from the beginning.

Of it's time and we have got used to not reading racial slurs and gratuitous biting heads off chickens. I would not hail this as a classic. This might well be a case of where the film is better than the book.. Whilst it is important that books are read as originally intended, I confess that this can be a very hard task

received this book from Netgally in exchange for an honest review

Though I enjoy the book I struggle big time! The old fashion writing style really put me off at times. The Long sentences and long paragraphs made me a little confused and I had to re read some parts few times so I can try to understand what was happening, sometimes nothing happen, some other times the internal mental torment of our main character was truly something.

As a non native English speaker classics always terrify me, mostly because of the vocabulary, and different word spelling, and as I mention before the long sentences and the writing style can be overwhelming, so along with the ARC from Netgally I downloaded the audiobook to help me get the right tone of the book and that really made the trick for me.

The description of places and moods really made the book for me, the run down oxidised lives of the carnival in contrast with the sleekness of the city life, even the small details of the smell of alcohol or flowers, the sense of cold vs comfort, takes you into a proper in depth trip to the postwar America.
The mind games Carlisle put himself (and us as readers) his high and lows, you can really savour his success and greed and everything that comes afterwards.

I thought the sense of humour was very important in a novel like this one as is very dark and slow paced, so having sarcasm and irony throw here and there makes the whole story more bearable.

If you have watch any of the film adaptations you might not want to read it as it's obviously very difficult to put everything on th big screen, but I'm very curious to see Del Toro's take on it.

Racial slurs are littered throughout this book which made the reading experience bitter from the first time I saw the derogatory words. Unfortunate really, I loved the use of tarot cards as chapters and their meaning within. I found myself reading it in the voice of James Stewart since it suited the writing style of the era. Once I had gotten used to the vintage style of writing I found the book easier but it was very convoluted at times, but the ending.....that ending was perfection.

Rounded up from around 2.5 stars ⭐️

Nightmare alley follows the rise and fall of Stan Carlisle. Starting off in a Carnival, Stan wants to better himself and he uses his imagination and cunning to do so. But can he keep himself at the top?

I want to start by saying that there were many things I enjoyed about this book. I loved the unique characters. The carnival chapters were my favourite in the whole novel, they were so vivid and I couldn’t put the book down! Unfortunately for me, it went a little downhill from there. I found Gresham’s writing difficult to follow at times. Some of the sentences were overly long and complicated and I found myself reading them over and over to try and make sense of them.

I didn’t like Stan, although you are not meant to. But it wasn’t the same abhorrence I’ve experienced with other books. I went into this expecting something extremely dark. Unfortunately for me it just did not live up to the darkness of previous novels I have read. I found myself constantly comparing it to them, and it just fell short. However, just because it wasn’t dark enough for me does not mean it won’t be dark for other people. Please approach this book with caution as there are some possible triggers. Towards the end I found myself feeling confused by the storyline, I’m still not really sure what happened. I do still hope to watch the film, maybe that will shed some light on things for me. That being said, I loved that each chapter was linked to a different tarot card, it was so unique! I also found the short excerpt about the author really interesting. If you’ve been wanting to read this please do not let me put you off, many people seem to love it! I would definitely consider reading it again after I’ve seen the movie.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes dark thriller/crime novels. Please be aware of possible trigger warnings and some of the language of the time may be offensive to some. I want to thank Netgalley and Bloomsbury publishing for allowing me to read this book and give my personal thoughts.

American noir novel. Very well written but not “ a classic of the genre” as the publicity would have you believe. As a slice of life amongst the low life’s and losers it’s very evocative. I prefer my noir more of the hard- boiled variety, but that’s an individual observation.

Of its type this is very good but won’t appeal to all tastes.

I couldn’t get into Nightmare Alley at all. From its initial description of the ‘geek’, biting off the heads of chickens as part of a freak show, it left me feeling cold. It was fairly predictable that Stan would rise up in prosperity before, presumably, ending up as the geek at the end, but I didn’t manage to get that far to find out.

Apologies, but really not a book for me.

The Wheel of Fortune

There is an inevitability about the outcome of William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel. I might say it follows the trajectory of the rise and fall of the protagonist in a Greek Tragedy, say Oedipus the King, in the life of its central character, Stan Carlisle, aka the Great Stanton, aka the reverend Carlisle, except that Stan is so unscrupulous, so self-evidently a villain. Yet the reader does feel pity for this fraud and conman, this uncaring exploiter of others; despite everything he is a victim too, and in the end, he is outdone by a charlatan much cleverer and more ruthless than himself.

For all its age, this is a very well written, fast moving and intelligent novel. Stan begins as a new boy at the ‘Carny’, observing the freak show of the Geek who bites the heads of living chickens. ‘How could a man fall so low?’ He thinks. Foreshadowing at its best. The reader follows his rise to become the Great Stanton, mentalist extraordinaire, then the reverend Carlisle, spiritualist preacher, preying on the needful gullibility of others. This leads him into what appears to be the perfect alliance, with psychoanalyst Lillith Ritter in a plot to defraud an immensely wealthy businessman.

I guess many people when asked about the book will say, ‘No, but I have seen the movie’. My recommendation is that no matter how good the movie might be, this is an excellent novel, well worth reading, not least for how it reveals the various tricks of the fraudster’s trade, in ‘Carny’, in mentalism, and in spiritualism. Not the least of its attractions is how it in some ways reflects the life story of its author, clearly a man of considerable talent, who squandered everything.

If you're looking for a quintessential noir novel, then look no further - but be prepared for a slow pace and lots of narrative jumps. It was a little difficult to follow at times as a result, and I did find myself losing momentum at times.
But overall, very enjoyable story - can't wait to see how they adapt it to film!

This book was a hard slog to read. I'm not sure if it was because it flicked from one point of view to another mid-flow or the way it seemed to tell me rather than show. I nearly gave up a number of times, but made it to the end, which was a good ending. But the slog to get there in my opinion wasn't really worth it.

I just hope that the film that's just been released can see what the author want to tell.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

Bleak, mesmerising and hauntingly evocative of 1930s America and the dark underbelly of showbusiness. This classic example of noir fiction has been re-released to tie in with the new movie starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett.

Nightmare Alley follows Stanton Carlisle as he joins the circus, first as a magician then progressing to mind reading, before moving to theatre halls and then setting up a spiritualist church. Each chapter begins with a tarot card, giving an intriguing glimpse of the twists and turns of fate to come.

Viewing the other circus performers, or carnies, as beneath him, Stan is always looking for the next big thing, dragging those around him along with his plans to get rich, before he meets his match, falling in love with a female psychiatrist who sees right through him.

A dark and uncomfortable but engrossing read.

William Lindsay Gresham’s dark novel of the rise and fall of a hustler, screams noire in every sentence.

Taking place in the world of carnival hucksters it follows the fortunes of the ambitious and ruthless Stanton Carlisle, a handsome young man driven to better himself whatever the cost to others.

The nightmare world we find ourselves in will be familiar to those who have read novels like The Day of the Locusts and reflects the disillusionment and sense of societal disintegration of the post war period. The juxtaposition of the small town narrow-mindedness and naivety and the knowingness and camaraderie of the carneys is compellingly depicted.

As we watch Carlisle’s life turn full circle, we are offered moments of redemption, notably through the character of Zeena, the fortune teller. She offers Stan opportunities for a better life at the start and at the end of his journey but he is incapable of recognising them.

Elements of tarot, mythology (Oedipus) and the bible come together to make this a scorching but fascinating read. It is being reissued to tie in with a new film version starring Bradley Cooper and Kate Blanchett.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing plc for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A densely populated novel full of shady characters, deceit, and more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at. Nightmare Alley follows Stan Carlisle, a lifelong grifter, from his beginnings as a magician in the carny as he changes tack to become a mentalist, learning the art of cold readings, and gradually develops his act until he becomes a leader of a spiritualist church, adopting ever more extreme methods to convince people they are contacting dead loved ones. It can be hard to follow a main character you dislike, but the world Stan occupies and the people he meets are so compelling that you just go along for the ride. Vivid and dark.

Apologies to the author, although he died a while ago and will never be affected by this review, but after the first few chapters and a quick dip into the middle and end I really did not want to read it...life is hard enough at this time without also making my leisure time depressing. I had wanted to widen my reading but this was a step too far for me, noir is black but this felt as if there was no light at all! Thank you Netgalley for ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Skilful and sharp satiric writing but I couldn't stay with it .. we scour a down and out fairground and I suppose when the story of young abused gurl called molly crops up I just couldn't see where it's going .. I gave up .. too cynical by half ..

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel - though I can't quite get my head around an ARC of a book published in 1946. This was very possibly the most bleakly Noir novel I've ever read - the nearest similarity I can come up with is from the cinema. Nightmare Alley reads like a cross between Todd Browning's Freaks & Pabst's Pandora's Box. Stanton Carlisle is a Carny man who goes through a rollercoaster journey and several incarnations ranging from the semi- to the outright fraudulent during the course of the story. Nightmare Alley does indeed read like a distressing dream - at times it is difficult at first to tell which character is being described and it often jumps from one scene to another. There is one very odd scene that sticks in the memory where Mrs Oakes encounters a dwarf on a station platform that does not seem to relate to anything else in the book (unless someone can help me out here?).
If you are not offended by debauchery and dissolution, give this book a read - it is far from easy but extremely rewarding - now to check out the two films that have been made from this to see if the match up to the movies I referred to above.

I want to thank Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for the advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I struggled with this book and, after reading, around 40% gave up, which is most unlike me.

The storyline was unusual, though bleak, which was to be expected given the book's original publication date. However, I felt the prose meandered, and I lost any sense of purpose and direction to the story.

It then became a chore to read, so it remains incomplete. I am sorry that I was unable to do better by the author.

I was given an ARC of Nightmare Alley in exchange for an honest review. For me, this book was a cracking read! Written in the 1940s it’s centred around the the world and the people of the carnival in 1930s America. Nightmare Alley examines the covert dishonesty of its main protagonist, Stanton Carlisle, briefly touching on traumas from his childhood - a ‘conman’ who is unceasingly on the run from his own psychological demons. The speech patterns are colloquial and full of ‘street’ slang, which I found only a little difficult to navigate at first but which added an authentic quality to the characters. A wonderful read!

Nightmare Alley was first published in 1946. It is being released as a film adaptation by Guillermo del Toro, hence the book being released. The book is considered a classic in the noir fiction realm, and the premise intrigued me. The book opens with Stanton (Stan) Carlisle, a magician at a travelling circus. He is wondering how the freak show geek becomes the type of person he is, an alcoholic, who stoops to the lowers of low, and will do anything for a drink. Stan is horrified and declares no such fate would ever befall him.

Stan, feeling he has learned all he can from the carnival, and has grander opinions of where he can go in life, takes his leave, bringing with him Molly, a beautiful, but naive young woman who had her own act in the carnival. Stan reinvents himself as a spiritualist, and quickly learns how to exploit the rich, but not so bright people. He preys on their desperation for answers from lost loved ones. Stan makes a lot of money, but doesn’t know when to stop.

The story sounds like it should be a good one, a great one even. Each chapter opens with an image of the Tarot, and gives a teaser of what will happen within the following pages. The story is dark, disturbing, and filled with drama, despair and longing. However, it was hard to read at times. The story didn’t always flow. It felt like an effort to read. I found myself struggling to pick it back up at times. In the end I was glad to have finished it and gotten the dramatic twist of the ending. I wouldn’t be recommending it as a grabs you engaging read however. I can see it translating well onto the big screen, particularly with Guillermo del Toro at the wheel!

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
An essential must-read crime fiction thriller. A noir classic. Recommended.