CAPONE: The Life and World of Al Capone

by John Kobler ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 1971

Lansky (p. 217) may have been the big brains but Big Al ""Scarface"" Capone was the public enemy of the public. Celebrities vied to be seen with him; your average working man thought that he was a cross between Robin Hood and a rainmaker in a very ""dry"" country. This extensive, and quite thorough, dossier recaps his spectacular rise and ignoble fall from the street gangs in Brooklyn to the street massacres in the Windy City. At one pre-election point the flak was so great that a black-humored reporter was moved to write -- ""The rocket's red glare,/ the bombs bursting in air/ gave proof through the night/ that Chicago's still there."" Another official noted that Chicago had the distinction of being ""the only truly corrupt city in America."" In the meantime the Gennas brothers were brewing lethal gin in every tenement kitchen, Johnny Torrio left town because of the bloodshed, and Deany O'Banion, gangland's favorite florist, flourished al funerals thai read like Who Was Who in the Underworld. Capone finally ended up with an empire and a sentence for tax evasion that took him to Alcatraz where his influence dissipated along with his mind (a long dormant case of syphilis caught up with him). Crime buffs will recognize a lot of the material but will read it just to hear the '20's roar again.

Pub Date: May 18, 1971

ISBN: 0306812851

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION