When The Fat Man Sings ebook

by William Murray

William Murray obviously knows a lot about magic, opera, and horse racing, knowledge which enhances the tone of his story without being in any way pedantic.

William Murray obviously knows a lot about magic, opera, and horse racing, knowledge which enhances the tone of his story without being in any way pedantic. This may be overly high praise and may say more about me than about this novel, but I find this book more satisfying and, in several ways, superior to Dick Francis' horse racing-based thrillers. It ain't over, yet another fine fun Shifty novel, with horseracing at the base! ALL the books are great, and are a series - get em! For the horseracing fan, for the mystery novel fan, for the fan of sleight of hand magic.

FREE shipping on qualifying offers. When part-time magician and horse-racing addict Shifty Lou Anderson helps world famous tenor Fulvio Gasparini recoup his losses in Las Vegas.

Murray died in March 2005 at age 78. Just prior to his death, Murray had completed a book about Chicago's Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.

He wrote a series of mystery novels set in the world of horse racing, many featuring Shifty Lou Anderson, a professional magician and horseplayer. Among his many contributions to The New Yorker was the magazine's "Letters from Italy" of which he was the sole author. Murray died in March 2005 at age 78. Other books in the series. Shifty Lou Anderson (9 books). Books by William Murray. Mor. rivia About When the Fat Man.

Murray, William, 1926-2005. Toronto ; New York : Bantam Books. inlibrary; printdisabled; ; china.

When the Fat man sings. com User, June 9, 2009. This year's top sellers. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

WHEN THE FAT MAN SINGS By William Murray. 216 pp. New York: Bantam Books. TO turn the tension up a bit, at one point in this book, William Murray needs to have an innocent bystander mistaken for Shifty Anderson, his protagonist, and clouted over the head. To supply this small need, Mr. Murray creates Hugo Mandelbaum, the most obnoxious, obscene, rude and altogether unpleasant fellow I've met in fiction in years. And then there is Happy Hal Mancuso, Shifty Anderson's morose agent, who is so persistently miserable that (in Anderson's words) ''Voltaire would have.

When the Fat Man Sings (1987). The King of the Nightcap (1989). The Getaway Blues (1990). I'm Getting Killed Right Here (1991). We're Off to See the Killer (1993). Now You See Her, Now You Don't (1995). A Fine Italian Hand (1996).

But the narration and dialogue are brightly neo-Runyonesque; the locales, from casino to track to opera house, are keenly sketched (Shifty falls hard for Verdi); and Murray's blend of earthy substance and sophisticated manner remains.

But when Anderson meets Gasparini's friends, he appreciates just what he's let himself in fo. oceedings{Murray1987WhenTF, title {When the Fat Man Sings}, author {William Brent Murray}, year {1987} }. William Brent Murray. Lewis Anderson is a professional sleight-of-hand magician whose real love is gambling. One evening he meets Italian opera star Fulvio Gasparini, who asks him to watch over his gambling activities. But when Anderson meets Gasparini's friends, he appreciates just what he's let himself in for. Save to Library. Just prior to his death, Murray had completed a book about Chicago’s Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. He wrote a series of mystery novels set in the world of horse racing, many featuring Shifty Lou Anderson, a professional magician and horseplayer. When the Fat Man Sings.

For part-time magician Shifty Lou Anderson, the job he is offered by world-famous tenor Fulvio Gasparini seems simple enough. Shifty, a skilled gambler, will be required to do nothing more than control the hefty opera star's gambling losses and check on Gasparini's stable of racehorses. Naturally, things do not work out that way. Shifty uncovers problems with Gasparini's stable and soon finds himself the target of a big-time crime syndicate.

Mala

William Murray's WHEN THE FAT MAN SINGS is a thriller whose protagonist is an appealing character, Shifty Anderson. Shifty is a professional magician and part-time horse player. This might suggest a man of less than reputable character, and Shifty does not live a life of which most conventionally-minded people would approve. Against this, he is a grounded, courageous, honest, resourceful, likable and reliable man - a man who lives an unusual but virtuous life on his own terms. Shifty gets involved with Fulvio Gasparini, an Italian opera singer of immense talent, and his large entourage - a bewilderingly various group of scoundrels, hangers on and true friends to Fulvio. Shifty joins this group as a "consultant" of sorts. Fulvio is a gambling addict with no talent as a gambler. Shifty knows how to pick horses and helps Fulvio not only cut his losses, but to win more than he loses. They become friends, and this leads to trouble for Shifty, given some dangerous circumstances in Fulvio's life involving both criminal tendencies of certain members of his entourage and some unusual circumstances of his past. The narrative is excellent. William Murray obviously knows a lot about magic, opera, and horse racing, knowledge which enhances the tone of his story without being in any way pedantic. This may be overly high praise and may say more about me than about this novel, but I find this book more satisfying and, in several ways, superior to Dick Francis' horse racing-based thrillers. This is not a latent swipe at Francis. I like his novels a great deal. In making this comparison, I intend only to praise Murray and this fine novel.

DABY

I picked up this old paperback for some light reading. It was very entertaining. There is insight into horse racing and opera and magic. Mostly it's a fun easy read. It also brings back the "good old days" when everything was simpler without cell phones or internet. Sometimes that is a welcome respite in this fast moving, complicated world in which we now live. I'm looking for more Shifty books.

Shalizel

It ain't over, yet another fine fun Shifty novel, with horseracing at the base! ALL the books are great, and are a series - get em! For the horseracing fan, for the mystery novel fan, for the fan of sleight of hand magic