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The Cocktail Waitress Hard Case Crime James M Cain Books

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The Cocktail Waitress Hard Case Crime James M Cain Books

Hard Case Crime once again brings forth a hardboiled crime novel with an intriguing real-life history. It is the final book from James M. Cain, one of the most revered crime noir authors in history, published for the first time 35 years after his death.

The story opens three days after the death of Joan Medford’s husband under suspicious circumstances. Joan is a prime suspect as far as the police are concerned. She is also flat broke, and her sister-in-law is plotting to gain permanent custody of her son.

Over the next six months, Joan attempts to reestablish some semblance of a life, beginning with finding a job as a local cocktail waitress. Before long, she manages to entangle herself in a love triangle of sorts. On the one hand is Tom, the handsome, hot-headed, penniless young man to whom she is strongly physically attracted. On the other side is Earl K. White III, a sickly aging millionaire who can offer her security and wealth.

Cain has mined similar triangles before, most famously in his classic novels Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice. I have to give him credit for not simply recycling his well-known lovers-pair-up-and-bump-off-the-old-man-for-money formula. Joan is a gold-digger, to be sure, but she has some measure of feelings for both men, and there are some lines she is unwilling to cross. (At least, that is what she claims in her first person account, but of course there may be reasons for doubt…)

The flaw of this book is that it strains credibility at too many points. Joan is repeatedly presented as a free-spirited worldly woman of 1961--she is willing to take extramarital partners, she is not above seeking an illegal abortion, she even briefly considers prostitution—so her extreme aversion to any intimate contact with an older husband does not ring true, especially when such relations would be advantageous.

She also has a tendency to lose her temper at the most unlikely times—it drives critical plot twists, but seems at odds with her otherwise calculating nature. Her determination to be with her son also seems to wax and wane a bit too much, manufactured to keep the plot moving rather than verisimilitude.

The story gets on track in its final four chapters with an ending that features two and a half surprise twists. (The “half twist” is not explicitly spelled out in the book but relies on the audience to understand the dangers of the drug thalidomide, something not known in the 1960’s but very much in the public consciousness when the book was being written in the mid-70’s. The editor explains it for younger readers in his afterward.)

The nicest thing about the ending is that all the seemingly random subplots—an early pregnancy scare with Tom, a financial feud with Earl’s step-children, a traveling buddy from Texas—pay off unexpectedly in the final assessment.


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The Cocktail Waitress Hard Case Crime James M Cain Books Reviews

Charles Ardai, a devotee of "hard case" novels made his fortune in non-literary ventures. As a fan of "Black Mask" style hard-boiled fiction (such as appeared in the late and very much lamented, "Creative Arts/Black Lizard" series), Ardai had the resources (and inspiration) to pick up where Don Ellis left off. His "Hard Case Crime" imprint has re-issued several classics and published new works in the hard-boiled/noir category. Ardai found manuscript versions of famed author James M. Cain's unpublished final novel "The Cocktail Waitress". Claiming a major literary coup, Ardai edited and published "Waitress" clearly considering it more than a mere literary curiosity; rather unsurprisingly, he touts it as a worthy successor to Cain's three (early career) great novels. By the end of the WW-II era, Cain's career had pretty much tanked. Based on Cain's trajectory and the fact that "Waitress" was written at the end of the author's life, the prospects for a masterpiece were slim indeed.

The young, well-endowed protagonist of "Waitress" has fallen from grace by dint of a mid-adolescent romantic crisis leading to complete estrangement from her "Social Registry" parents. An early marriage to an abusive, alcoholic and rapid progression to widowhood, followed by destitution and resurrection (as a scantily-clad cocktail waitress in a bar-eatery) sets the scene. At the "Garden" she meets a preposterously wealthy, cadaverous, elderly and physically debilitated gentleman who (naturally) falls for her, despite the obvious problems presented by an infatuation of this sort including impotence which he ascribes to coronary atherosclerosis. Of course, a young, bold, handsome, "forward" n'er do well bar patron (the unidimensional Tom) makes the moves and both the chemistry and trajectory is set for the rest of the novel. The requisite "surprise" ending could only be unanticipated by a thalidomide-sedated reader.

From a literary perspective, the book is uninteresting the style rigidly adheres to the formulaic approach of the era and the strictures of the genre. Character development is adequate, but no more than that. That might have been expected, as Cain writes in the first person and as the (female) protagonist. The dialogue is stilted and the rigidity of the plot is stifling. Nonetheless, it's an entertaining read, mostly as it perfectly embodies the "pink Cadillac" stereotypes popular at the time. Recall that this is the era when gay men were euphemistically referred to as "light in the loafers" provocatively clad women were "asking for it" and "Playboy" was considered racy stuff. Cain appears to be pandering to this mentality rather than striving for a worthy legacy to "Postman", "Pierce" or "Indemnity". From this perspective, he succeeds quite nicely. He remains best remembered for his earlier work.
I'm generally not a fan of unreliable narrators, but James Cain impressed me with this one!

The story is told from the standpoint of Joan Medford, who is the widow of a prominent man who has ruined his fortune and manages to kill himself in a car accident due to intoxication. However, that's way we see it from Joan's standpoint, however, her sister in law, Ethel has other ideas.

Since Joan's husband has basically left her and their son to live in squalor, Joan finds a job as a cocktail waitress at a nearby bar. After establishing herself and gaining a few regulars, she meets Tom Barclay and Earl K. White III, who change her life forever.

She manipulates herself into their lives but wants different things from each of the men. She lusts and drives for Tom, but settles and ends up marrying Earl because he's able to give her security and sustainability, something that Tom is not able to give her at her current situation.

At first, I felt sorry for Joan and her struggles to keep the lights and phone on in her house. As the story goes, my view changed and felt that Joan had turned into a monster and second guess everything she has told me from the beginning. Cain did an excellent job of interweaving sexual tension between Joan and Tom and Joan and Earl. I don't want to give away the ending but it's bittersweet, but Joan gets more than she bargained for, in true noir fashion.
Hard Case Crime once again brings forth a hardboiled crime novel with an intriguing real-life history. It is the final book from James M. Cain, one of the most revered crime noir authors in history, published for the first time 35 years after his death.

The story opens three days after the death of Joan Medford’s husband under suspicious circumstances. Joan is a prime suspect as far as the police are concerned. She is also flat broke, and her sister-in-law is plotting to gain permanent custody of her son.

Over the next six months, Joan attempts to reestablish some semblance of a life, beginning with finding a job as a local cocktail waitress. Before long, she manages to entangle herself in a love triangle of sorts. On the one hand is Tom, the handsome, hot-headed, penniless young man to whom she is strongly physically attracted. On the other side is Earl K. White III, a sickly aging millionaire who can offer her security and wealth.

Cain has mined similar triangles before, most famously in his classic novels Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice. I have to give him credit for not simply recycling his well-known lovers-pair-up-and-bump-off-the-old-man-for-money formula. Joan is a gold-digger, to be sure, but she has some measure of feelings for both men, and there are some lines she is unwilling to cross. (At least, that is what she claims in her first person account, but of course there may be reasons for doubt…)

The flaw of this book is that it strains credibility at too many points. Joan is repeatedly presented as a free-spirited worldly woman of 1961--she is willing to take extramarital partners, she is not above seeking an illegal abortion, she even briefly considers prostitution—so her extreme aversion to any intimate contact with an older husband does not ring true, especially when such relations would be advantageous.

She also has a tendency to lose her temper at the most unlikely times—it drives critical plot twists, but seems at odds with her otherwise calculating nature. Her determination to be with her son also seems to wax and wane a bit too much, manufactured to keep the plot moving rather than verisimilitude.

The story gets on track in its final four chapters with an ending that features two and a half surprise twists. (The “half twist” is not explicitly spelled out in the book but relies on the audience to understand the dangers of the drug thalidomide, something not known in the 1960’s but very much in the public consciousness when the book was being written in the mid-70’s. The editor explains it for younger readers in his afterward.)

The nicest thing about the ending is that all the seemingly random subplots—an early pregnancy scare with Tom, a financial feud with Earl’s step-children, a traveling buddy from Texas—pay off unexpectedly in the final assessment.