author
Jim Tully
1886–1947
Raised in poverty and hardened by years on the road, this American writer turned hobo life, boxing, and Hollywood into vivid, unsentimental prose. His books and memoirs helped define a rough-edged style that brought the underclass to the center of the story.
1 Audiobook
Gods of the lightning; Outside looking in
by Maxwell Anderson, Harold (George Harold) Hickerson, Jim Tully
About the author
Born near St. Marys, Ohio, in 1886, Jim Tully grew up in difficult circumstances and spent much of his youth drifting the country, riding freight trains, living among hoboes, and taking whatever work he could find. He also boxed professionally, and those early experiences gave his writing its toughness, speed, and eye for people living on the margins.
Tully found major success in the 1920s and 1930s as a novelist, memoirist, and journalist. He wrote about tramps, fighters, circus people, and other outsiders with a blunt, lively style that stood apart from more polished literary voices of the time. His best-known books include Beggars of Life, Circus Parade, and Shanty Irish.
He later became known in Hollywood as a sharp and sometimes feared reporter, writing celebrity profiles as well as fiction and memoir. Though he is not as widely read today as he once was, he remains an important American voice for readers interested in hard-boiled writing, working-class lives, and stories shaped by firsthand experience.