From the inside flap
“For most, the city is closing up. For a few outsiders, this night, Christmas Eve 1979, is just beginning. Charlie Arglist is a lawyer saying good-bye to Wichita by revisiting the landscape of his used-up life: the cold stare of his angry ex-wife, the empty strip clubs and bars where loneliness turns a profit, the frozen glare of ex-lovers and cops long snuggled in his deep pockets. Club owner Renata, a woman too elegant for the smoky dive she owns, dreams of financial prosperity and holds a single frame of stolen film that could help her achieve it. And there’s Vic. He’s got a reputation, a bad temper, and a secret worth half a million dollars. Not to mention a knack for bringing people together... for the last time. Before the night is over, the decisions they face and the choices they make will irrevocably alter the course of their lives – if they can live long enough to see Christmas Day sunrise.”
Review
This fast-blast, 217-page novel sports some serious nastiness, all of it bleakly funny. Arglist is the typical noir schmoe, whose dim-bulb notions and moral ambiguity lead him into some big-time f**k-ups, a number of them involving greed, treachery and dead bodies. Renata is a classic femme fatale with a mysterious past, who could be kind-hearted, or extraordinarily cruel. That is to say, it’s a quintessential noir tale, with solid twists, some truly mean people and an ending that will either make you laugh out loud or tick you off. Great, fun read, especially for those who love noir and black comedy.
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The film version was released stateside on November 23, 2005, directed by Harold Ramis from a screenplay by Richard Russo and Robert Benton.
John Cusack played Charlie Arglist. Connie Nielsen played Renata Crest. Billy Bob Thornton played the volatile and ruthless Vic Cavanaugh. Oliver Platt played Pete Van Heuten.
Mike Starr played Roy Gelles. Ned Bellamy played Sid. T.J. Jagodowski played Officer Tyler. Randy Quaid played Bill Guerrard
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