Talk:Jack Black (author)

Death
"He died during the Great Depression due to a drowning, widely believed to be a suicide." Really? The afterword to the Nabat books edition of 'You Can't Win' says that he simply disappeared in 1932, and that he had previously said that he would drown himself 'if life got too grim'. Is there any proof that he drowned or is the article here stating hypothesis as fact?

First off, sign your posts with four tildes (~). About the addition: it says "was widely believed", which means alot of people assume he drowned himself, including his contemporary publishers. it doesnt state fact. VanTucky 16:59, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, but it says "widely believed to be a suicide," not "It was widely believed that he died during the Great Depression due to a drowning." It's not the same thing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.105.181.61 (talk) 01:19, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Expansion
Wow. This really needs to be expanded. Definitely discuss Burrough's shallow interpretation of the book's criminal subculture.--Mcgregorj 02:42, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * I definitely agree that this article needs expansion, and dramatically. For instance, there is no mention of the Johnson Family, the fraternity of "good bums and thieves" of which Black was a member.  But, Mcgregorj, if you know something about Burroughs's "shallow interpretation" of the book, and have documentation of same, please write about it. ---Charles 02:46, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Late 19th century?
Should this read turn of the 20th Century? Looking into this, it seems that You Can't Win is more about the early 20th century than the late 19th, although I haven't read it. --Golden Eternity


 * The book covers the essential period from the 1890's to WWI, during, and immediately after, the closing of the frontier. So, yes, late 19th century is accurate. ---Charles 02:46, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Misc.
Having read the book myself, I don't think even he considered himself an "honorable" outlaw, and calling him that reads like an opinion.

I also recall reading in the book that his first name was "John," if it's of any interest.

Yes it does and because of this I've always assumed his name was John Black (Jack being a common substitute for John). 202.138.213.90 (talk) 04:37, 21 August 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.138.213.90 (talk) 04:30, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

I seem to remember a passage where he talked about how despite his criminal activities, he had a strict code of ethics. sounds like an "honorable outlaw" to me. what he concluded at the end of the book was that you cant ever "win" as a yegg. VanTucky 17:02, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

This page gives his birth year as 1881 however in "You Can't Win" he reads of Jesse James' death that had just occured in a newspaper while at boarding school. According to another page James died in 1882. He seems to be about 10 years old so his birth year would more likely be around 1872.202.138.213.90 (talk) 04:42, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

Links to add and utilize to improve this entry
(This section is for citation and info links that will sometime be added to and into this entry. Feel free to contribute if you wish)
 * http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1775
 * http://www.madprofessor.net/2004/03/you_cant_win.html
 * http://wholeearth.com/issue/102/book-review/142/you.can't.win
 * http://lahosken.san-francisco.ca.us/new/2008/08/book-report-you-cant-win.html
 * http://bad.eserver.org/reviews/2001/2001-4-12-11.44AM.html
 * http://www.harpers.org/archive/1929/06/0013929
 * http://www.myspace.com/saltchunkmary Rimbaud 2 (talk) 20:29, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * http://www.blog.wickedlemons.com/?p=883 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dominic R. (talk • contribs) 07:01, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

Notes from contributor Mose
Hello, Mose Crowfield, from Amsterdam here, I added some stuff, dont know if it looks all right, but it should make some sense, at least I didn't make it up myself in a pipedream. I've been researching Black for 10+ years now, did that myspace page a few years ago... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.37.210.210 (talk • contribs) 2012-01-31T15:19:58

You Can't Win
YCW is being made into a film by Charles Mudede with Michael Pitt as Black. http://blog.thenewstribune.com/getout/2012/05/01/indy-film-shooting-in-tacoma-stars-michael-pitt-of-hbos-boardwalk-empire/ Murderbike (talk) 03:12, 9 May 2012 (UTC)