Three by Cain: Serenade, Love's Lovely Counterfeit, The Butterfly

By James M. Cain

All three books are written with an enduring view of the dark corners of the American psyche. Cain hammered high art out of the crude matter of betrayal, bloodshed, and perversity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307791795

James M. Cain

James M. Cain (1892–1977) was one of the most important authors in the history of crime fiction. Born in Maryland, he became a journalist after giving up on a childhood dream of singing opera. After two decades writing for newspapers in Baltimore, New York, and the army—and a brief stint as the managing editor of the New Yorker—Cain moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s. While writing for the movies, he turned to fiction, penning the novella The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934). This tightly wound tale of passion, murder, and greed became one of the most controversial bestsellers of its day, and remains one of the foremost examples of American noir writing. It set the tone for Cain’s next few novels, including Serenade (1937), Mildred Pierce (1941), Double Indemnity (1943), and The Butterfly (1947). Several of his books became equally successful noir films, particularly the classic 1940s adaptations of Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity. Cain moved back to Maryland in 1948. Though he wrote prolifically until his death, Cain remains most famous for his early work.     

Reviews for Three by Cain

[rosecityreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had trepidations about reading Cain because, as one of the first (THE first?) hard-boiled crime writers, he has been copied so many times I thought the original might seem like a parody of itself. You know, like when you go back and watch an early Mafia movie like Mean Streets and it has been ripped off so many times that it seems stale.But, not to fear. The writing pops, the plot zips along, the whole thing is perfect noir. I read all three straight through. Now I feel like drinking rye and socking anyone who cracks wise.

[unkletom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It took me almost seven years to read all three of these James M. Cain classics, reading The Postman Always Rings Twice in 2010, Double Indemnity in 2014 and Mildred Pierce in 2017. All are excellent and each it distinct from the others. If you have seen any of the movie versions of these books, do not think you know the stories. Summaries:The Postman Always Rings Twice is a steamy story of obsessive passion.Double Indemnity is classic noir, a story of greed with a dangerous fem fatale thrown in.Mildred Pierce is harder to pin down, It tells the story of a strong-willed divorcee who is determined to make it in an unfair world. Her personality makes it easy to think of the book as a noir version of the Scarlett O'Hara story. One can easily hear her vowing to "never go hungry again!"FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:•5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.•4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.•3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.•2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending. •1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.

[edgoldberg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just finished reading The Postman Always Rings Twice. I am truly amazed at what an author can do in 87 pages. The Postman Always Rings Twice has suspense, raw emotion, murder, sex. Cain didn’t have to write 200 pages to get his story told…87 was perfect. And believe it or not, Lana Turner and John Garfield look exactly like I pictured Cora and Frank to look. Whoever cast the original movie…bravo. Can’t wait to watch the movie. If you’re a mystery fan or a fan of great writing, read The Postman Always Rings Twice.Double Indemnity is quite the story. Again, in 80 pages, James M. Cain conveyed all he needed to in order to tell a chilling tale of murder and betrayal. It’s the same old story, murder for insurance, but it’s not the same old story in the way that it’s told. It’s the perfect murder, but it isn’t that perfect. What I’ve come to realize, however, is that not only does Cain know how to tell a tale, he also knows how to create an ending that the readers won’t figure out. In both The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, I never in a million years would have conceived of his endings. Totally creative, totally fitting, totally satisfying, totally chilling. There is a reason why these novelettes are considered classics. Now for the movie, which I intend to watch. I know I’ve seen it but don’t remember it. Since I remembered Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck played the leads, I wasn’t really picturing anyone else in the parts. What startled me was the Barbara Stanwyck’s character in the book is Phyllis Nirdlinger and in the movie is Phyllis Dietrichson. Tell me what director thought that Dietrichson was a better name than Nirdlinger. MacMurray’s character is Walter Huff in the book and Walter Neff in the movie. I’m sure there’s a story behind these and several other name changes, but for the life of me, I can’t imagine what it would be. I’m pretty sure I have an old edition of The Postman Always Rings Twice floating around my apartment somewhere. I’ll soon be on the search to find it. To sum up, if you want to know what a real mystery is like, short, sweet and to the point, I whole-heartedly suggest James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity.