Web of the City

"Web of the City," originally titled "Rumble," is Harlan Ellison's debut novel, following Rusty Santoro, a teenager in the Cougars gang in 1950s Brooklyn. To research the book, Ellison joined The Barons gang in Red Hook under an alias, spending ten weeks as their "war counselor" before leaving. After enlisting in the military, he wrote most of the novel during his spare time at Fort Benning between mid-1956 and March 1957. Initially acquired by Lion Books, the manuscript was later purchased by Pyramid Books, which published it as "Rumble" in 1958 while Ellison was still in the army. The novel explores themes of gang life, street violence, and the protagonist's struggle between loyalty to his gang and the possibility of a better future. It depicts the harsh realities of urban gang culture, including fights and murders. In the 1960s, American International Pictures planned a film adaptation featuring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, though it was never realized.