I Can Get It for You Wholesale — Jerome Weidman

Jerome Weidman's enduring classic novel about life in New York's cutthroat garment district

Just south of Times Square, more than six thousand manufacturers of dresses are crammed into the few blocks that make up Manhattan's garment district. Their factories are cramped, noisy, and incredibly profitable -- and Harry Bogen is going to take them for all they're worth. A classic conniver, he knows that it's easier, and a hell of a lot more fun, to turn a buck by lying than by telling the truth.

First he convinces the shipping clerks -- the pack animals of the garment industry -- to go on strike. With the dress manufacturers brought to their knees, Harry will be there to pick them up again. His conscience might be conflicted, if he had one in the first place.

A bracing comic sensation when first published, "I Can Get It for You Wholesale" remains a timeless masterpiece -- its hero still a scoundrel, and his charm as irresistible as ever.