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Included in Nightwebs: A Collection of Stories by Cornell Woolrich edited by Francis M. Nevins, Jr. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Hard Cover. First Edition. Number of pages: 510. ISBN-13: 9780060131739. Edited and Introduction by Francis M Nevins, Jr., that contains sixteen short stories written as Cornell Woolrich, William Irish and George Hopley plus Cornell Woolrich: a checklist, by H. Knott, F. M. Nevins, Jr., W. Thailing (p. 478-510). “The Penny-a-Worder” was originally entitled “A Penny for Your Thoughts”. It was intended by the author for his novel Hotel Room (1958), however, it was originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine [v32 #3, Whole No. 178, September 1958], and then in The Saint Mystery Magazine, March 1967 issue as “Pulp Writer”. Finally it was collected in Nightwebs, three years after Woolrich’s death in 1968. It was not reprinted until 2005, in Tonight, Somewhere in New York.
Description: Pulp fiction writers produced millions of words under intense time pressure in order to fill the pages of dozens of mystery magazines which filled newsstands from the 1920’s through the 1950’s. Some would argue that Woolrich’s “The Penny-a-Worder” is one of the best pieces of fiction on the subject. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine in 1958, this short story is not only a fun read about a pulp writer’s life but is a wonderful example of Cornell Woolrich’s later work and, for all we know, may have been a first-hand experience suffered by Woolrich himself.
It’s the later part of the 1930’s and a struggling author by the name of Dan Moody checks into a hotel with an assignment to turn out a novella – literally overnight – with a story whose subject will coincide with artwork that has already been produced for the imminent publication of a “dime-detective” type magazine. With the publisher’s voice constantly in Moody’s mind and various distractions around him, the writer attempts to create a story worthy of publication. (Source: Goodreads)
The picture enclosed does not belong to the edition I read.
My Take: In essence, “The Penny-a-Worder” is a Woolrich’s unusual story. It’s not a crime or detective fiction and it does have a great sense of humour with some autobiographical contents. None the less, it touches some of the themes usually found in Woolrich fiction, like for example a race against the clock. The story revolves around a pulp writer whose publisher requires him to write a tale in a very short time frame. For this reason, they rent him a quiet room in a hotel, so he can work at ease. The magazine already has the cover image and the story must include a scene that matches it.
Woolrich mentioned that he particularly remembers his story “Guns, Gentlemen” (Argosy, 18 December 1937); collected as “The Lamp of Memory” in Beyond the Night (1959), because I wrote it to match up with the cover of the magazine, which they sent me. This doesn’t mean, of course, that he wrote the story in a single night! (Boucher on Woolrich: When Titans Touched by Francis M. Nevins)
For me the best story in the collection, “The Penny-a-Worder,” is not even a genuine crime story, but it is a brilliant little tale about a pulp crime writer. Francis Nevins, who is convinced that Woolrich had no sense of humor, appreciates the fine quality of this story, but somehow himself apparently doesn’t see the humor in it. (You would have to have a sense of humor, I think, to see it.) I’ve written about this story before here, but I think I will write about it again in a successor blog post. It’s such a brilliant little story that shows a lot of witty self-awareness on the part of an author whom a lot of people seem to think had capacity only for myopic misery. (Curtis Evans at The Passing Tramp).
About the Author: Cornell Woolrich is widely regarded as the twentieth century’s finest writer of pure suspense fiction. The author of numerous classic novels and short stories (many of which were turned into classic films) such as Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Waltz Into Darkness, and I Married a Dead Man, Woolrich began his career in the 1920s writing mainstream novels that won him comparisons to F. Scott Fitzgerald. The bulk of his best-known work, however, was written in the field of crime fiction, often appearing serialized in pulp magazines or as paperback novels. Because he was prolific, he found it necessary to publish under multiple pseudonyms, including “William Irish” and “George Hopley” …. Woolrich lived a life as dark and emotionally tortured as any of his unfortunate characters and died, alone, in a seedy Manhattan hotel room following the amputation of a gangrenous leg. Upon his death, he left a bequest of one million dollars to Columbia University, to fund a scholarship for young writers. (Source: Hard Case Crime, via Goodreads)
A Cornell Woolrich bibliography can be found here.
Recommended Reading: Francis M. Nevins’ Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die is an enormous, in depth biography and critical study on Woolrich and his work. It is a very detailed look at Woolrich’s world. Nevins also edited the best of all Woolrich collections, Nightwebs, which contains important essays and bibliographies as well. It also contains Woolrich’s autobiographical story, “The Penny-a-Worder” (1958), which is a gentle self portrait of a pulp writer. (Source: Mike Grost at A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection)
Additional Reading:
Articles on Cornell Woolrich at Mystery File.
Mike Grost on Cornell Woolrich.
Kate Jackson’s articles on Cornell Woolrich are at Cross-Examining Crime.
Martin Edwards’ articles on Cornell Woolrich are at ‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’
Curtis Evans’ articles on Cornell Woolrich are at The Passing Tramp.
Jim Noy’s articles on Cornell Woolrich are at The Invisible Event.
Cornell Woolrich page at Gadetection
“Who Was Cornell Woolrich?” by Richard Dooling
Pulp Kafka: The Nightmares of Cornell Woolrich BY Jake Hinkson
The Cornell Woolrich Revival by Steve Powell
Cornell Woolrich, the Dark Prince of Noir
The Stories Behind the Story, by Mike Nevins at Mystery File
“The Penny-a-Worder” un relato breve de Cornell Woolrich
Descripción: Los escritores de ficción “pulp” produjeron millones de palabras bajo una intensa presión de tiempo para llenar las páginas de docenas de revistas de misterio que llenaron los quioscos desde la década de 1920 hasta la década de 1950. Algunos dirían que “The Penny-a-Worder” de Woolrich es una de las mejores obras de ficción sobre el tema. Publicado por primera vez en Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine en 1958, este relato no solo es una lectura divertida sobre la vida de un escritor “pulp”, sino que es un maravilloso ejemplo del trabajo posterior de Cornell Woolrich y, por lo que sabemos, puede haber sido una experiencia de primera mano sufrida. por el propio Woolrich.
Es la última parte de la década de 1930 y un autor en apuros llamado Dan Moody se registra en un hotel con la tarea de escribir una novela corta, literalmente de la noche a la mañana, con una historia cuyo tema coincidirá con la portada que ya se han elaborado para su inminente publicación en una revista tipo “detective de diez centavos”. Con la voz del editor constantemente en la cabeza de Moody y varias distracciones a su alrededor, el escritor intenta crear una historia digna de publicación. (Fuente: Goodreads)
Mi opinión: En esencia, “The Penny-a-Worder” es una historia inusual de Woolrich. No es un crimen ni una novela policíaca y tiene un gran sentido del humor con algunos contenidos autobiográficos. Sin embargo, toca algunos de los temas que suelen encontrarse en las historias de Woolrich, como por ejemplo una carrera contrarreloj. La historia gira en torno a un escritor “pulp” cuya editorial le exige que escriba un relato en un lapso de tiempo muy corto. Por esta razón, le alquilan una habitación tranquila en un hotel, para que pueda trabajar a gusto.La revista ya tiene la imagen de la portada y la historia debe incluir una escena que coincida con ella.
Woolrich mencionó que recuerda especialmente su cuento “Guns, Gentlemen” (Argosy, 18 de diciembre de 1937); recopilado como “The Lamp of Memory” en Beyond the Night (1959), porque la escribí a juego con la portada de la revista que me enviaron. ¡Esto no significa, por supuesto, que escribiera la historia en una sola noche! (Boucher sobre Woolrich: When Titans Touched de Francis M. Nevins)
Para mí, la mejor historia de la colección, “The Penny-a-Worder”, ni siquiera es una historia policiaca genuina, pero es un pequeño cuento brillante sobre un escritor de novelas “pulp”. Francis Nevins, quien está convencido de que Woolrich no tenía sentido del humor, aprecia la excelente calidad de esta historia, pero de alguna manera él mismo aparentemente no ve el humor en ella. (Creo que tendrías que tener sentido del humor para verlo). He escrito sobre esta historia antes aquí, pero creo que volveré a escribir sobre ella en una publicación posterior del blog. Es un breve relato tan brillante que muestra mucho conocimiento ingenisoso de si mismo por parte de un autor que mucha gente parece pensar que solo tenía capacidad para desdichas miopes. (Curtis Evans en The Passing Tramp).
Sobre el autor: Cornell Woolrich está ampliamente considerado como el mejor escritor de pura ficción de suspense del siglo XX. Autor de numerosas novelas clásicas y relatos (muchos de los cuales se convirtieron en películas clásicas) como La ventana indiscreta, La novia vestía de negro, Mil ojos tiene la noche, La sirena del Mississippi, Con cariño desde el cielo, Woolrich comenzó su carrera en la década de 1920 escribiendo novelas convencionales que le ganaron comparaciones con F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sin embargo, la mayor parte de su obra más conocida se escribió en el campo de la novela policíaca, y a menudo aparece serializada en revistas “pulp” o como novelas de bolsillo. Debido a que fue prolífico, consideró necesario publicar bajo múltiples seudónimos, incluidos “William Irish” y “George Hopley”… Woolrich vivió una vida tan oscura y emocionalmente torturada como cualquiera de sus desafortunados personajes y murió, solo, en una sórdida habitación de un hotel en Manhattan tras la amputación de una pierna gangrenosa. A su muerte, dejó un legado de un millón de dólares a la Universidad de Columbia para financiar una beca para jóvenes escritores. (Fuente: Hard Case Crime, a través de Goodreads)
Una bibliografía de Cornell Woolrich se puede encontrar aquí.
A Crime is Afoot 