The Asphalt Jungle
Sign in to keep track of books you’ve read and want to read.
So successful in evoking [the city's] aura that the reader breathes the air of menace that emanates from its implacable personality and shivers at the unmistakeable evidence that blind chance plays a considerable part in determining the course of every life within the city's confines- New York Times
Read more
The Asphalt Jungleis a gripping tale of the planning and execution of a jewellery store heist in a dark and corrupt Midwestern metropolis. Set amid a seedy urban wasteland of crooks, killers and con-artists, the various members of the gang are steadily undone by personal obsessions, double-crossing and cruel fate.
First published in 1949, W.R. Burnett's hardboiled classic was made into the definitive heist movie by John Huston in 1950, starring Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe and Marilyn Monroe. Its screenplay, co-written by Huston was nominated for an Oscar.
A master and pioneer of the gangster genre, W.R. Burnett is the author of over thirty novels - including Little Caesarand High Sierra- and sixty screenplays. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards.
Liked The Asphalt Jungle? Here’s where I’d start.
These suit anyone who liked The Asphalt Jungle. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.
