Tough Jews : Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams
by Rich Cohen
List Price:
Our Price: $6.28
You Save: $9.67 (61%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Rich CohenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-04-20
ISBN: 0375705473
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Tough Jews : Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams
Book Review: Truly Great Read. Don't Miss this Beauty of a Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
Read this book on a flight from New York to LA. Re-read it on the flight back to New York. I loved every page. And, it saved me from the usual cigar-free purgatory that is coast-to-coast air travel. The book began with the terrific title and cover photo. But that was just the beginning (literally, ha ha). The book contains some great stories and some great tips on how to handle business (gangster style). The bonus for me was that the Chapter 1 contained a great LA restaurant recommendation -- a place called Nate and Al's. It was terrific (although very painful heartburn followed lunch; always does when I eat pastrami). By the way, this is an ideal father's day gift. Too bad my kids can't give it to me, since I've already read it. Also, I'd hope the kids spend a bit more money on me than the ten bucks the book will set you back. I'd get it for my dad but he's passed on (too bad -- he would have loved it). Hell, despite the fact that the old bugger annoys me to no end, I might even give it to my wife's step-father. The first gift I will have given the crackpot in 22 years!
Summary of Tough Jews : Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams
In an L.A. delicatessen, a group of Brooklyn natives gets together to discuss basketball, boxing, the weather back east, and the Jewish gangsters of yesteryear. Meyer Lansky. Bugsy Siegel. Louis Lepke, the self-effacing mastermind of Murder, Inc. Red Levine, the Orthodox hit man who refused to kill on the Sabbath. Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, who looked like a mama's boy but once buried a rival alive. These are just some of the vibrant, vicious characters Rich Cohen's father reminisced about and the author evokes so pungently in Tough Jews.Tracing a generation of Jewish gangsters from the candy stores of Brownsville to the clubhouses of the Lower East Side--and, occasionally, to suites at the Waldorf--Cohen creates a densely anecdotal and gruesomely funny history of muscle, moxie, and money. Filled with fixers and schlammers, the squeal of tires and the rattle of gunfire, his book shatters stereotypes as deftly as its subjects once shattered kneecaps.
When we think gangster, hood, or wiseguy, we often associate these characters with such names as Capone, Luciano, or even Corleone. However, when organized crime reared its ugly head in the late 1920s in Brooklyn, at the foundation were men like Meyer Lansky and Ben Siegel--both Jews. Rich Cohen's romantic account of Jewish gangsters, Tough Jews, brings to life the story of Jewish involvement in the world of organized crime.
Cohen persuasively achieves his objective by recounting the stories he heard from his father, who grew up with his friends (including broadcaster Larry King) at the end of the gangster era in Brooklyn, finding heroes in men like "Kid Twist" Reles and Bugsy Goldstein. The intriguing tales Cohen heard, although slightly embellished over time, offer a rare glimpse into a world that can barely be related to today's generation of Jews living in America. These Jews went to prison for committing violent felonies, not white-collar crimes, and got the chair for it. Inspired by their stories, Cohen went on to conduct extensive research through old journals, police records, and court reports to uncover the real stories behind the tales he heard as a boy.
Cohen warmly discusses his father's fascination with these powerful, charismatic figures, and openly envies his experiences at a time before Jewish people lived under the debilitating shadow of the Holocaust. In addition, Cohen shows compassion for the need of his father's generation to look up to "someone who gives them the illusion of strength." --Jeremy Storey
True Crime Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in True Crime Books
Death Dealers: A Witness to the Drug Wars That Are Bleeding Americaby Yves Lavigne
Harpercollins Canada; Published: 1999-03; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Palestine Twilightby Edward Fox
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2002-06-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $72.82
My Life Among the Serial Killersby Helen Morrison
Wiley; Published: 2005-02-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
A Wife's Revenge (St. Martin's True Crime Library)by Eric Francis
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2005-06-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.47
Price in other shops:
Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolutionby T. J. English
William Morrow; Published: 2008-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Black Dahlia Avenger: The True Storyby Steve Hodel
HarperCollins; Published: 2006-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.05
Price in other shops:
Bones: A Forensic Detective's Casebookby Douglas H. Ubelaker, Henry Scammell
Harpercollins (Mm); Published: 1993-10; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century (P.S.)by Edward Dolnick
Harper Perennial; Published: 2009-06-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.70
Price in other shops:
Mafia Wife: My Story of Love, Murder, and Madnessby Lynda Milito, Reg Potterton
Avon; Published: 2004-03; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.90
Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspaceby Michelle Slatalla, Joshua Quittner
Harpercollins; Published: 1995-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.22
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Sweet and Low: A Family Storyby Rich Cohen
Picador; Published: 2007-03-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops:
Legsby William J. Kennedy
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1983-01-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops:
Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Seriesby David Pietrusza
Basic Books; Published: 2004-08-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.22
Price in other shops:
Billy Bathgate: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle)by E.L. Doctorow
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2010-06-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.23
Price in other shops:
The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in Americaby Albert Fried
Columbia University Press; Published: 1994-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $30.00
Price in other shops:
Our Gang : Jewish Crime and the New York Jewish Community, 1900-1940by Jenna Weissman Joselit
Indiana University Press; Published: 1983-11-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.26
Price in other shops:
The Avengersby Rich Cohen
Vintage; Published: 2001-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.42
Price in other shops:
Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Seriesby David Pietrusza
Basic Books; Published: 2011-09-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.58
Price in other shops:
Murder, Inc.: The Story Of The Syndicateby Burton B. Turkus, Sid Feder
Da Capo Press; Published: 2003-07-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops:
But He Was Good to His Mother : The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangstersby Robert A. Rockaway
Gefen Publishing House; Published: 2000-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops: