Well! I thought I was reading the book listed in 1000 Books to Read Before You Die, but it was just a copy of the play that is based on two of his short stories.
I found a plethora of the books at the OSU Library, but then I found all his short stories in the public domain here:
I found the short stories that the musical Guys and Dolls are based on, and as I suspected, the movie/musical is very different.
I plan on watching a free version of the movie above tonight. This was a fun foray.
All that said, reading the musical and then listening to the songs from it was a delightful way to spend a couple of hours last night!
Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:
Told by an unnamed but well-connected narrator who knows his way around racetracks, delicatessens, and assorted dens of high- and low-life, Runyon’s tales travel from the street-smart to the sentimental with unrelenting attention to the human comedy. Their narrative charm has no better validation than the number of films based on them: to mention just a few, Lady for a Day (three versions); Little Miss Marker (four versions, beginning with the one that launched Shirley Temple’s stardom); The Lemon Drop Kid (two versions). Runyon’s world and characters were also the inspiration for one of the greatest American musicals, Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls. For all their cinematic and theatrical adaptation, the tales remain an undiluted pleasure when encountered on the page
