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THREE STREET by Will Stevens

THREE STREET

By

Pub Date: Sept. 28th, 1962
Publisher: Doubleday

A loosely constructed, sentimental novel deals with Skid Row characters in San Francisco where some assorted down and outers, lovable lushes, horseplayers, sports writers and little old ladies hang out in a bar called Breens', presided over by bartender Schultz. Breens' is on Three Street (a fond nickname for Three Street) and most of the habitues attend St. Patrick's Church where they are known as the Happy Ones, and also as the Rear Guard because of their placement in the pews. All of the characters have names like the Countess, Ragtime Thompson, Flower Pot Nellie, Limpy Nabisco, Hymie the Pawnbroker, and John the Baptist. Limpy is a sad little shoeshine boy but surgery cures his handicap; Ragtime Thompson suffers from a broken heart and plays Tschaikovsky in a Skid Row hotel; Schultz the Bartender is given to saying ""Ach du lieber"".... Cliche and whimsy abound- and even though the Runyonesque comparison seems inevitable, it does not seem justified.....Ach du lieber.....