The Cocktail Waitress

by James M. Cain Narrated by Amy Rubinate

Overview

Grieving widow or black widow?

The day Joan Medford buried her husband was a fateful one-because before the day was out she'd meet the two men who would change her life forever. Forced to take a job waitressing to support herself and her child, Joan finds herself caught between the handsome young schemer whose touch she comes to crave and the wealthy older man whose touch repels her...but who otherwise would make a tempting husband number two. It's a classic Cain triangle -brutal and sexual and stark-that can only end in death. But for whom, the guilty...or the innocent?

The final novel written by James M. Cain and never before published, The Cocktail Waitress is a testament to the enduring power of one of the most acclaimed novelists of the twentieth century. The author of unforgettable noir classics such as Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and The Postman Always Rings Twice, Cain's work remains as impossible to put down today as when first written, and will leave even jaded modern readers breathless.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Audio

The world-weariness of the eponymous lead, Joan Medford, is perfectly captured here by narrator Amy Rubinate. As Cain’s noir opens, Medford’s just lost her husband—and under circumstances that garnered police interest. But she’s no simple widow, and Rubinate sells the rapid transformation from a grieving wife to a menacing figure determined to keep her son, in spite of efforts by her childless sister-in-law to claim him. Without histrionics, Rubinate makes Medford’s emotional but restrained threats seem true to life, and early on signals the complexity of the lead. Rubinate’s versatility serves her well in portraying the other characters; different genders, ages, and social classes are all handled perfectly. Cain devotees will find this an entertaining must-listen. A Hard Case Crime hardcover. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Reviewed by Meghan Abbott. More than halfway through American noir master James M. Cain’s The Cocktail Waitress, just before its house-of-cards plot collapses under its own weight (then, in its final paragraphs, springs to life once more), the narrator tells us, “I began to realize how terrible a thing it was, the dream that you make come true.” Cain could have just as easily said those words himself. In fact, he did. “I write of the wish that comes true,” he once wrote, “for some reason a terrifying concept, at least to my imagination.” In his novels, you find neither the poetry of Raymond Chandler nor the lacerating intelligence of Dashiell Hammett, but Cain makes up for both in his keen understanding of the human heart, its darkest chambers. His best novels leave you feeling jolted and bruised. The Cocktail Waitress was Cain’s bête noire, a tale with which he wrestled during his final years. The white whale of noir scholars since the author’s death in 1977, this novel was recovered after a nine-year hunt by Hard Case Crime editor Charles Ardai, who assembled this published version from multiple versions, the same scenes rendered multiple times, none of them dated. The plot concerns a beautiful widow under suspicion by the police, a hustling young man, a sickly millionaire—all the elements of a classic Cain “love rack”—seamy tales of feverish and restless strivers caught in traps of their own making (The Postman Always Rings Twice; Double Indemnity). And like so many of his novels, it’s a confessional tale, told from the viewpoint of the widow herself, forced by economic necessity to wait tables and compelled by a mix of ambition, maternal longing, and pique to take a series of perilous risks to hit the big gold dream. What’s missing, however, is Cain’s trademark propulsive pace. The novel reads in fits and starts, perhaps the inevitable result of its bumpy lineage. Cain seems frequently bewildered by his female narrator, by how to articulate her physical desire, by how a woman might even think about her body—a potentially fatal flaw in a story about the dangerous places desire will take you. Likewise, the two male corners of the love triangle feel vague, inconsistent, and broad all at once, and the story repeatedly stutters to a halt before its final surge. Yet The Cocktail Waitress still offers much of the addictive weirdness of vintage Cain: delirious coincidences, the hidden kinks of the middle class, and a prime example of what has always been one of Cain’s greatest talents: the turn-of-the-screw moment when we realize just how trapped our narrator has become. The concluding pages offer one of the niftiest plot twists you ever saw coming—and because you are waiting for it, it hits you twice as hard. This is the essence of Cain. As with all his saps and patsies snared by their own greed and risk taking, we know the minute we meet them they are doomed. And they know it, too, but can’t stop themselves anyway. They don’t want to. (Sept.) Megan Abbott is the Edgar-winning author of six novels, including The End of Everything and her latest, Dare Me(Little, Brown/Reagan Arthur, July).

From the Publisher

"This is vintage Cain ... Let's go get that book, baby. Let's read it. Let's get stinko." – The Washington Post

"entertaining and cleverly plotted" – Editors' Choice, New York Times

"Fittingly for the endpoint of a long and meaningful career, Cain saves his best twist for the very last page of his very last book, a haymaker from the blind side, so carefully finessed and camouflaged through the book as to bring a tear to a glass eye — another writer’s jealous acknowledgment. It is a moment that draws Joan’s world and Cain’s view of desire and consequence into tight focus. One thinks of the author well into his ninth decade, setting down those final passages with a hidden smile and a writer’s certain knowledge that they won’t see this coming. He was right." – New York Times

“I think James M. Cain is one novelist who has something to teach just about any writer, and delight just about any reader. The Postman Always Rings Twice was a work of genius. So it's good news that The Cocktail Waitress, Cain's last novel has finally been published.” – Anne Rice

“Swift and absorbing…pulses with more authentic primal energy than the work of any number of Cain imitators from the 1930s to the present.” – Wall Street Journal

"The Cocktail Waitress was found among his papers after a decade-long search and has never been published…until now. After burying her abusive husband on page 1 of the book, Joan takes a job waitressing to make ends meet, and winds up meeting two new men: a wealthy but repulsive older man and a handsome young schemer who makes her blood boil. Can you have any doubt that things will end badly for one or both of them? No, that’s not a spoiler – it’s a simple statement of fact when you’re talking about a Cain femme fatale, the deadliest species there is." – Huffington Post

"The Cocktail Waitress is a not-to-be missed crime thriller for all Cain fans ... A rare, hardboiled blast from the past." – Shelf Awareness

"It’s easy to fall for a previously unpublished work by Cain, whose oeuvre includes The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) and Double Indemnity(1943). Fortunately, The Cocktail Waitress—which the author sought to complete before perishing in 1977—serves up ample delights (and a few familiar themes). It tells of Joan Medford, a captivating young mother whose abusive hubby has died under odd circumstances, and who then takes a job waiting tables in a dodgy cocktail lounge. There she meets a loaded elderly gent with a bum ticker, Earl K. White III, as well as the grabby, calculating Tom Barclay. She weds White out of pragmatism, rather than passion; but tensions in the continuing relationships between these three players guarantee trouble. We witness the unfolding drama through Joan’s eyes, while wondering what she’s withholding." – Kirkus

"the most important literary event of 2012 ... This book marks the greatest achievement of Hard Case Crime in its short existence ... ranks right up there with anything the author ever wrote in his prime. And in saying that, it is better than a lot of what gets published today ... Cain creates a timeless, claustrophobic nightmare that will rock you long after you put it down ... a noir masterpiece ... THE COCKTAIL WAITRESS is the book of 2012. And Hollywood should take note: this is going to be a great film noir movie someday." – Book Reporter

“This novel will capture you quickly.” “It’s spicy and riveting.” “This is the kind of book that makes people want to read Hard Case Crime. It’s perfect as an introduction to crime novels or as a refreshing new offering from an old favorite.” “You’re definitely going to want to pick up a copy.” – DNM Magazine

"The Cocktail Waitress is another gem for Cain fans - and all lovers of classic noir." – Noir Journal

Books of the year in the Evening Standard (London): "The posthumous publication of James M Cain's The Cocktail Waitress (Hard Case Crime, £16.99) showed the third great noir master – after Hammett and Chandler – as acute on febrile sexuality and dark human urges at the end of his life as he was in Double Indemnity.

“The work is spellbinding and compelling, in the end challenging one’s values, beliefs, and prejudices.” – San Francisco Book Review
 

Library Journal - Audio

Cain worked on this novel at the end of his life and left multiple versions of scenes that recently were edited and arranged into a classic noir crime novel. Young Mrs. Joan Medford's abusive husband dies leaving nothing but bills, so directly after the funeral she takes a waitress job. Assigned to the restaurant's bar, curvaceous Joan quickly impresses the customers, and soon she is remarried to a wealthy older man, who dies under suspicious circumstances. A handsome young lover and an angry sister-in-law further complicate Joan's world. This first-person narrative is a natural for audio, and reader Amy Rubinate has just the right voice for it: young and naive yet sexy and knowing. From the beginning, readers will want to believe everything she says, but there's something about that voice that makes them wonder if they are being manipulated. VERDICT A clever reading that mystery lovers will enjoy. Recommended for all collections. ["Overall, the characters are fully fleshed out, the dialog flows, and Cain's signature sexual tension crackles on every page. A tasty cocktail, indeed," read the review of the Titan hc, LJ 6/1/12.—Ed.]—Juleigh Muirhead Clark, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Lib., Williamsburg, VA

Library Journal

Cain began this novel in 1975 at age 83. Following his death two years later, the manuscript was stashed away and forgotten until it was brought to the attention of Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai, who hunted it down. The book sports elements familiar to Cain's classic works, notably an older man with a young, hottie wife. The first-person narrative follows 21-year-old Joan Medford, whose drunken bastard husband crashes into a wall, leaving her and their toddler son destitute. Joan lands a job slinging booze in a local lounge where her beautiful face and centerfold goodies draw the attention of moneybags businessman Earl K. White, who woos and marries her. Joan's babelicious bod proves too much for Earl's angina, and after she plants hubby number two—this time leaving her filthy rich—the cops cry murder. VERDICT Though reminiscent of Cain's early work, this story offers a new twist regarding his seductive protagonist. Writing from the perspective of a 21-year-old woman isn't the most natural thing for an octogenarian gent, but Cain pulls it off adequately. Overall, the characters are fully fleshed out, the dialog flows, and Cain's signature sexual tension crackles on every page. A tasty cocktail, indeed.—Mike Rogers, Library Journal

DECEMBER 2012 - AudioFile

Cain's lost novel doesn’t measure up to other classics like THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE but is still worth a listen. The heroine, Joan Medford, has some good qualities, but she makes bad choices, mainly marrying for money. Narrator Amy Rubinate evokes the early ‘60s perfectly, portraying Joan as a woman who would do anything for her young son. Though the listener knows she’s blameless, the police look at her with suspicion after man after man she's involved with dies. Rubinate makes Joan sound sexy while making it clear that she uses that sexuality as a tool to better her life. Rubinate conveys Joan's frustration as fate seems determined to destroy her planned mother-and-child reunion. M.S. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173543592
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/18/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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