You Can’t Win, By Jack Black
This is the real deal: the original Depression-era train-hopper hobo narrative. It’s so poignant and beautifully written, it never went out of print.
Jack Black's clean, uncluttered prose— and complete lack of self pity— make it easy to feel present in the book to this day.
When William S. Burroughs came along, years after this book was published, he wrote it was “the best book I ever read.” His intro to this edition You Can’t Win helped it become the cult classic of a new generation. You can really see Black’s influence on the Beats.
You Can't Win is one of the best memoirs I’ve read: freight-hopping, a brotherhood of thieves, drugs, prison—and, profoundly, librarians.
—Rip-roaring introduction by Burroughs, included!
You Can't Win has been made into a movie starring Boardwalk Empire's Michael Pitt and is due out this year. Listen to the audiobook now; the film will be an interesting comparison.
Narrated by Bernard Setaro Clark who outright inhabits the part.
--Susie Bright