The Devil’s Stocking

Algren’s last novel is based on the life of boxer and death-row inmate Rubin Hurricane Carter. Foreword is written by renowned literary critic and journalist Herbert Mitgang. This is the story of Ruby Calhoun, a boxer accused of murder in a shadowy world of low-purse fighters, cops, and con artists and bar girls. Chronicling a battle for truth and human dignity, which gives way to a larger story of life and death decisions, literary grandmaster Nelson Algren’s last novel is a fitting capstone to a long and brilliant career.