You Can't Win

Here is one book you don't want to give to a boy. Although he will certainly enjoy it, as did a young William S. Burroughs, author of the introduction (there are also encomia from Carl Sandburg and Clarence Darrow on the front page), this dangerous book might put ideas into a boy's head and influence him to a life of crime.Or will it?What made Jack Black devote his life to crime? He was brought up in a Catholic school, where he received an adequate education. His father cared about him and didn't beat him. Over and over Black describes his feelings about why he was doing what he did and his realization that crime does not pay, but it remains unexplained why he waited so long (46 years) to go straight. Why? His explanations sound like excuses.In  The Selfish Gene , evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins offers a sort of game theory as to why some girls turn into sluts. (Uh, sorry, I think he used female birds as an example. But the concept is the same.) Perhaps there's a similar socio-biological explanation for why some boys go bad. It seems obvious to all that tobacco and heroin are highly addictive and harmful, yet millions of young people make a decision to begin using them. Why?I am of the belief that any boy worth his mettle naturally goes through a period of rebellion and mischief. (Any man worth knowing read MAD magazine when he was ten, graduated to the novels of Terry Southern in his teens, then read Wm. S. Burroughs. Our opposites read Boy's Life and Ayn Rand.) We all tried to make explosives. My best friend in high school (who came from a good family, and most of his siblings now have prestigious positions) knew that I was going wild, so he would plant schemes in my head. Of course, I was always the one who was arrested. By the age of twenty-two, I had returned home from New York City, sick, needing dental work (from getting beaten-up frequently), and thoroughly disgusted with life on the road, so I got a steady job and eventually began showing up for work every day. I had seen the error of my ways and gone straight. My friend, however, decided that he wanted to be Public Enemy Number One. He died eight years ago of an overdose in a filthy room above a dive after doing two stretches in San Quentin (#V81917). He would likely have been accepted at any of the nation's most esteemed universities, but instead, his proudest achievement was having his photo prominently affixed to the wall of the South San Francisco Police Department. (Well, at least he told me it was. He was also a champion liar.) Why did such a brilliant mind go to waste?Congruent with this mystery is why some people greatly admire this book, and some (typically of the distaff side) fail to see its charms. One side sees no attraction to living in a hobo jungle, under a railroad bridge, with the dregs of society, while the other side sees a far worse horror in spending each day of one's life in a cubicle staring at a screen (perhaps the very screen you're staring at this moment).I often regret the foolish choices I made in my youth. But throughout the pages of this book, some long-idle connection was made in my limbic system, and once again I thought it would be wonderful to escape from the police, hidden in a boxcar with a character named The Sanctimonious Kid.I recently left a rather sour review under  The Last Days of Night: A Novel  which takes place in about the same era as Jack Black describes. My complaint was that the writing in that novel was dull and ponderous, and that the dialogue seemed more suited to voice balloons in DC Comics. You Can't Win is a recording of how people actually spoke at the dawn of the twentieth century, particularly the argot of the underworld. The beautiful writing throughout this book should be taught as an example in all those silly writer's workshops which mass-produce giftless authors.

Maybe it's the fact Jack Black hails from my hometown or possibly the strong connection I feel to the overall arch this mans life takes but even more likely it is the universal human condition of the traveling man that Jack puts forth on paper flawlessly that makes this my all time favorite book. This is a book that has inspired many great travel writers and adventurers; from the Beatniks to Chris McCandless this book presents a moral compass for those who may have lost themselves down a long road. The story revolves around Jack Blacks own life as a hobo and a thief in the late 1800s. He lays his life down on paper from beginning to unknowingly close to the end, and shares his own trials and tribulations with the reader in a simple but well thought out language. Someone who lives an unconventional life as a traveler may find many mirrors within the pages of his book. From a lost love as a boy, something so simple as a person could alter the entire course of a life, to the people, friends, criminals, and situations he encounters along the way. Jack Black does a wonderful job telling us his reasons for wanderlust and justifies for us his life of crime, detailing the code of conduct he holds himself to as a thief and in turn despairs over the futility of the justice system that punishes him. The book was written as a means to straighten out criminals but also reflect the failure of the justice system.In the end, the traveling bandit is finally taken under the wing of a wealthy man and finds a love for books and writing during his time in prison and after as a librarian. After writing the book he found himself working in for a newspaper and even wrote a play based on a character in his book, but life was "too grim" and he found himself "ready for the river" where it is said he ended his own life.It seems however, to me, this book is more a reflection of an adventurous spirit that longs for stability in his life and the balance between adventure and a straight life seems a fine line to difficult to balance on; hence the title You Can't Win.In the end, this book is a very well crafted and heartfelt story; a piece of history, a personal journey, and simply a good read.http://adventeurs.com/you-cant-win-book-review/

I have to say: this book isn't what I thought it was at all. I thought it was a book about the pointlessness of life and ambition. Er, no. It's about something else entirely.The author, Jack Black, tells about his life as a criminal and hobo. Apparently he was commissioned to do this by a sort of church group, the idea being that enough would-be criminals would read what he says about the futility of a life of crime to be dissuaded from that career. Laughably, as far as this goal goes, the book is a failure, as it manages to make the live of an itinerant thief seem romantic and exciting, despite Black's (sincere?) protests that it wasn't.Anyhow, I was mesmerized.Note that the BN Publishing edition blows. It's got jack-squat for extras and a lot of typographical errors. You should get this edition instead:  You Can't Win : it has a lot more stuff, such as an afterword that helps to clarify a few matters.There were a couple of things that did bother me about this book, though:1. Lots and lots of outdated slang and no glossary or footnotes in sight.2. No timeline: it's hard to know when we're talking about. I can see that the book was published in 1926, but how old was Black at that time? In other words, when was he born? What I'm getting at is are his tales of San Francisco about the 60s? 70s? 80s? I for one would like to have known this.3. Characterization was not as good as everybody's saying, IMO. Sure, the Sanctimonious Kid has a great nickname, but is his character really differentiated from the other hobos to the point where he comes alive on the page? I think not.

If you are looking for the most interesting read to date then I thoroughly recommend this book,an absolutely enthralling biography of a man's life in crime,a most intellectual and articulate character, fully worthy to be in any book lovers library

Tough and gritty tale of a criminal and the life he leads. Poor cover but great little book. A bit depressing but then again it says it all in the title!

simply brilliant from start to finish , are there more or is this a one off.i certainly won with you can't win by Jack Black .

Classic book, well worth reading, a candid and fascinating autobiography from a long gone subculture in a long gone age. That said... there is a good edition of this book available from AK Press. This edition - the black cover with the awful drawing of the featureless thing sitting on a prison bunk - is a pirated edition of the AK Press book. Basically, you're paying - I paid - for a rip off of another publisher's edition, a book that doesn't have an introduction of afterword, no bibliography, no mention of the fact that NATAB Books are available at special prices for convicts - just a copy of the text which starts on the first page with the page number 15. So... great book, awful edition. Take a minute to check you're getting the AK Press edition.

A true treasure to read and own. This book is one of a kind indeed. I could not put it down once I began reading. Jack is an interesting character, and his language is easy to read and understand, full of excitement, mystery; and boy, what an adventure! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what criminal life was like back in the late 1800's/early 1900's. It's a stunning read!