Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham

Nightmare Alley

William Lindsay Gresham with Nick Tosches

275 pages • first pub 1946 (editions)

fiction crime mystery dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Description

Nightmare Alley begins with an extraordinary description of a freak-show geek—alcoholic and abject and the object of the voyeuristic crowd’s gleeful disgust and derision—going about his work at a county fair. Young Stan Carlisle is working as a ca...

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Community Reviews Summary of 342 reviews

Moods

dark 100%
mysterious 61%
tense 42%
sad 33%
challenging 25%
reflective 23%
adventurous 13%
emotional 11%
funny 2%
informative 2%
inspiring 1%

Pace

medium 52%
slow 43%
fast 3%

Plot- or character-driven?

Character: 59% | A mix: 36% | Plot: 2% | N/A: 1%

Strong character development?

Yes: 60% | It's complicated: 25% | No: 13%

Loveable characters?

No: 78% | It's complicated: 18% | Yes: 2%

Diverse cast of characters?

Yes: 47% | No: 39% | It's complicated: 11% | N/A: 1%

Flaws of characters a main focus?

Yes: 98% | It's complicated: 1%

Average rating

3.65

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Content Warnings

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