View source for I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes (novel)

{{Short description|Novellas by American crime writer Cornell Woolrich (1943)}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{infobox book <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| image         = File:I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes (novel).jpg
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| caption       = First edition cover
| author        = [[Cornell Woolrich]] (as William Irish)
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| country       = United States
| language      = English
| publisher     = [[J. B. Lippincott & Co.|Lippincott]]
| release_date  = 1943
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'''''I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes''''' is a 1943 collection of five [[novellas]] by American crime writer [[Cornell Woolrich]] under the pseudonym "William Irish". It includes one of Woolrich's most noted works, ''Nightmare''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21500913-i-wouldn-t-be-in-your-shoes,|title=I Wouldn't Be In your Shoes|author=|date=|website=Goodreads|access-date=August 31, 2017}}</ref>
== Story summaries ==
* "I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes" – On a hot night, Tom Quinn, frustrated by the wailing of the neighborhood cats in the lot behind his apartment building, throws his shoes out of the window at them. His wife makes him go out to find the shoes, but they appeared to have vanished in the darkness. The next day the shoes have been returned – after being worn by a murderer at the scene of his crime.
* "Last Night" – a woman suspects her husband of killing their wealthy guest after he refused to lend them money the night before.
* "Three O'Clock" – A man falls victim to his own insanity after finding himself bound and gagged in his cellar, next to the ticking bomb he set to kill his wife at three o'clock.
* "Nightmare" – After waking from a scarily vivid [[nightmare]] where he murdered a man in a strange mirrored room, Vince notices that strange details from his dream are real. A scratch on his wrist, a strange old key, in his pocket - if they are real, then could the murder be too?<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/nightmare-1940-by-cornell-woolrich/|title=Nightmare (1941) by Cornell Woolrich &#124; Tipping My Fedora|author=|date=November 23, 2012|website=Wordpress.com|access-date=August 31, 2017}}</ref>
* "Papa Benjamin" – In the [[French Quarter]] of [[New Orleans]], struggling nightclub performer Eddie Bloch decides dabbling in [[Louisiana Voodoo|voodoo]] might help save his failing act.
== Adaptations ==
"Papa Benjamin",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.escape-suspense.com/2007/02/escape_papa_ben.html|title=Escape and Suspense!: Escape - Papa Benjamin|author=|date=February 2007|website=Escape-Suspense.com|access-date=August 31, 2017}}</ref> "Last Night"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.escape-suspense.com/cornell_woolrich/,|title=escape and suspense: Cornell Woolrich.|author=|date=|website=Escape-Suspense.com|access-date=August 31, 2017}}</ref> and "Three O'Clock"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://realmofryan.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/three-oclock.html,|title=realmofryan: 3 o'Clock.|author=|date=|website=Realmofryan.Blogspot.co.uk|access-date=August 31, 2017}}</ref> were all adapted for the radio drama [[Escape (radio drama)|''Escape'']].
"I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes" was made into a [[I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes|film of the same name]] in 1948. "Nightmare" was adapted for screen in 1947 as ''[[Fear in the Night (1947 film)|Fear in the Night]]'' starring [[DeForest Kelley]] in his debut role, and then again in 1956 [[Nightmare (1956 film)|under its original title]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Novels by Cornell Woolrich]]
[[Category:1943 American novels]]