In an L.A. delicatessen, a group of Brooklyn natives gets together to discuss basketball, boxing, the weather back east, and the Jewish gangsters o...
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reviews
Nov 05, 2010
Robert
rated it: 
This is the one that talks about what we heard in the whispered conversations of our fathers. While we kept our hands clean, they knew about the unclean, savage race that fought for dominance in the streets of the ghetto. Tough Jews is off the charts. But that was my first reaction. Finishing the book, however, I am left disappointed. Cohen veers off a straight course to an
unsafe wilderness. He delivers, ultimately, a double cross. I felt I was riding shotgun. My best friend behind me whe More...
unsafe wilderness. He delivers, ultimately, a double cross. I felt I was riding shotgun. My best friend behind me whe More...
Sep 17, 2010
Noah
rated it: 
This book probably could have shed about eighty pages (I seem to say that about a lot of books, which says something about either bloat in nonfiction publishing or my attention span), but it's a fascinating spotlight on a mostly-forgotten era. Cohen has an eye for detail and uses it to develop his characters and create a great sense of place, putting you right there at a union strike in the Garment District or on a Brooklyn street corner. If a book about Jewish gangsters sounds at least a little
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Feb 02, 2010
Seán
rated it: 
If one wants to really learn something about Jewish gangsters, I recommend they pick up Albert Fried's Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster or Nick Tosches' King of the Jews (scholarly and literary contemplation of Arnold Rothstein). Those are terrific works; Cohen's book ain't.
My chief complaint? How Cohen bookended things with enervating tales about his father and his father's cohort of ancient ex-Brooklynites, who, although they haven't lived in New York for over sixty years, like More...
My chief complaint? How Cohen bookended things with enervating tales about his father and his father's cohort of ancient ex-Brooklynites, who, although they haven't lived in New York for over sixty years, like More...
Feb 24, 2009
Gigi
rated it:
I enjoyed this, although there was a lot of "He must have felt..." and "I picture him..." Good "creative nonfiction" writing techniques. Rather odd gangster-worship (or maybe just -obsession). I found a lot of resonances with my own family history, e.g the old neighborhood in Bensonhurst.
Oct 26, 2011
Tawny
rated it:
Although this book was very informative on a broader spectrum, I found the actual facts somewhat difficult to follow. There were so many names, and when the author kept switching between their real names and their various nicknames, I found the people especially hard to keep track of. Overall it wasn't a very cohesive read.
Apr 04, 2011
D
rated it:
This book as pretty good as far as the topic goes but I really enjoyed The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit 1910-1945. Check it out, if you can find it. It took me forever to get my hands on a copy of it.
Jan 18, 2009
Katrina
rated it:
Fascinating. You don't hear a lot about Jewish mobsters, but this book unveils the life and times of a few very infamous ones.
Jul 30, 2009
Chris
rated it: 
I had no idea this segment of society even existed. Pretty interesting.
Aug 08, 2011
Risa
rated it:
Though the topic is interesting, the book rambles on with speculative dialogue and irrelevant stories about the author's father's friends.
Dec 25, 2007
Max
rated it: 
What should/could have been a research novel about the transformation of the American Jew from gangster to nebbish in pop culture instead is a series of anecdotes without factual weight. The author's attempt to honor his father's stories and memories is undercut by his lack of hard facts and biographies of some notable and fascinating characters. The "tough Jews" that were the precursors to the Italian Mafia deserve better.
Sep 09, 2007
Jared
rated it:
Awesome book about mid-level Jewish Gangsters. The most interesting aspect of this book is that it put its focus on the mafia soldiers instead of the leaders. Only criticism is that the author tries to relate this back to his father and Larry King, which is a distraction from the story. Who really cares that his dad grew up in the same neighborhood as these guys, hung out with Larry King, and idolized these gangsters.
Dec 01, 2009
Suzanne (suz&mark)
rated it:
I really wanted to like this book since I liked his other book "The Avengers" about the Jewish partisans during the Holocaust. But this book just wasnt good. There were a lot of cliches like "sometimes when a man has to be a man, he..." I felt like he was trying to sound like an old jewish gangster and it was annoying!
Nov 06, 2008
Karen
rated it:
A complex book: I read it with a bizarre mixture of shame (Jews aren't supposed to be thugs!) and pride (damn! no one pushed THESE Jews around). Most interesting to me were Cohen's meditations on the different paths that the Jewish and Italian mobsters took, and the consequences for the next generation.
Aug 19, 2007
Michael
rated it:
The Jewish gangsters of Murder, Inc. is a great story, and it's good to see something where Jews aren't nerdy bankers (even if they're criminals). Cohen tries to give it a personal touch by adding stuff about his life and it's like "who gives a fuck?" but great stuff nonetheless.
Nov 30, 2007
Kit
rated it:
If you ever have entertained notions of some day becoming a "tough jew" yourself, this'll give you a few pointers. Starting a murder-for-hire incorporation is a good place to start.
Oct 18, 2008
Nate
rated it:
One of the first new books to have anything worth reading to add to the lore of Murder, Inc. Thought provoking and fun.
Nov 05, 2010
Robert
rated it:
This is the one that talks about what we heard in the whispered conversations of our fathers. While we kept our hands clean, they knew about the unclean, savage race that fought for dominance in the streets of the ghetto. Tough Jews is off the charts. But that was my first reaction. Finishing the book, however, I am left disappointed. Cohen veers off a straight course to an
unsafe wilderness. He delivers, ultimately, a double cross. I felt I was riding shotgun. My best friend behind me whe More...
unsafe wilderness. He delivers, ultimately, a double cross. I felt I was riding shotgun. My best friend behind me whe More...
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