Johnnie D: The Story of John Dillinger

by Arthur Winfield Knight

John Dillinger's reign as Public Enemy No. 1 began in the summer of 1933, when he left the Commercial Bank of Dalesville, Indiana, with $1,500 and a diamond ring belonging to the president's daughter. It was the depth of the Depression. Banks were closing everywhere, and millions of Americans were losing their life's savings. To them, Dillinger's act made him a sort of hero, even a modern day Robin Hood. Within the next year, he would go on to rob 10 banks and break out of two jails, one of them theoretically "escape proof".

Everything John Dillinger did, whether it was firing a tommy gun or relieving smitten bank tellers of the cash in their vaults, he with style. This is his troy, as told by Dillinger and those who knew him. Brought to life by Arthur Winfield Knight, the voices of the past emerge to vividly recount the renegade's story. Dillinger's associates included the likes of Harry Pierpoint and George "Baby Face" Nelson. And the women in his life were as colourful as the boys in his gang, from the love of his life, Evelyn "Billie" Frechette, to Anna Sage, "the woman in red", who lured him into the FBI sting that resulted in his death on July 22, 1934.

Many a man fell on both sides in the effort to capture - and keep imprisoned - the incorrigible Johnnie D. Sixty-five years after Dillinger's death, Knight proves that this story of America's dashing public enemy is still the most charged and gutsy of the 1930s. Dillinger remains the enduring symbol of the gangster era, a gentleman on the wrong side of the law.

222 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2000

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst I found this story of John Dillinger, one-time America's Public Enemy No. 1, quite interesting the way it is presented did little to make it as entertaining as I thought it might be. The story is told by short pieces by the many people who knew him, hung around with him and even tried to capture him and this makes the story, rather than be continuous, somewhat disjointed.

Okay, it does relate many of the major incidents and friendships in his life but piecing them all together to make a cohesive story at times proves difficult - for me anyway! What does come over is that Dillinger was well liked by all those who knew him, and admired by many of them; he was by all accounts a gentleman away from his nefarious activities.

He was not averse to shooting cops who tried to arrest him and prison officers who tried to block his escape attempts, and his daring escapes from jail are at times almost unbelievable. Also how he managed to, at times, live an almost normal life without being recognised is quite surprising. With all the wanted posters displayed all over the place one would have thought he would have been immediately recognisable ... but it was not always so.

As well as all the stories from his associates, there is plenty of supposed comments from himself that help to paint a vivid portrait of the man but, as I have said, piecing it all together can at times be tough.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked how the story was from the view point of individual people and in this format you didn't get lost on who was who.