GUYS AND DOLLS: The Stories of Damon...

GUYS AND DOLLS: The Stories of Damon Runyon (Penguin: $12.50; 411 pp . ). The Broadway revival of the musical “Guys and Dolls” and Jimmy Breslin’s recent biography have sparked a renewed interest in Damon Runyon. Although much of the slang seems dated and his constant use of the present tense grows tiresome, Runyon’s prose retains much of its appeal. From his table at Mindy’s restaurant, the anonymous narrator offers a wry commentary on a Broadway world of gamblers, grifters and chorus girls: Free-lance thug Harry the Horse “is by no means as bad looking as the photos of him the cops send around make him out,” while the redoubtable Miss Violette Shumberger “has a face the size of a town clock and enough chins for a fire escape.” This droll collection offers a new generation of readers a welcome introduction to Runyon’s speak-easy never-never land.