Rating: 
Summary: Chairman of the Board....more like Member Without Portfolio!
Review: A fascinating study of one man, the myths that surrounded him, his business and his family. Robert Lacey certainly did his research. In the final two chapters and in his acknowledgements he firmly lays to rest many of the fables that followed the Lansky name.
Rating:
Summary: Chairman of the Board....more like Member Without Portfolio!
Review: A fascinating study of one man, the myths that surrounded him, his business and his family. Robert Lacey certainly did his research. In the final two chapters and in his acknowledgements he firmly lays to rest many of the fables that followed the Lansky name.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping, myth-demolishing and humane - an important work.
Review: A really important work that strips mercilessly away many of the hoary myths that have stuck barnacle-like to the subject of American organized crime. The tale that emerges is no less gripping for that; Indeed the struggles personal and financial that dogged this less than omnipotent Lansky become all the more compelling and human. This is not a reading that finds total acceptance, and time and the inherent shadow-dwelling of organized crime mean that the absolute truth will never be nailed down, but Lacey's conclusions (that the post-Kefauver view of the Mafia as a coherent, nationally structured organization with Lansky the criminal mastermind at the centre of events, his overseas bank accounts overflowing with untouchable millions is simply not sustainable), the product of good research and common sense, are hard to refute. A tendancy to chide Lansky for not taking the turns in life that Lacey (probably erroneously) believes were open to him is one slight irritant, but that apart the book is an essential step in restoring balance to accounts of the Mafia's wealth, power, indestructability and even existence as popularly held. No more talk of $300 million!
Rating: 
Summary: Portrait of the Gangster as a poor schlep.
Review: According to the acknowledgements, Robert Lacey set out to write a biography about a monster and ended up writing about a more successful than average crook with a lot of family troubles. While there is still the "crime doesn't pay" moralizing, Lacey is too honest of a biographer to fall into the Kefauver conspiracy theory about the mob as a vast corporate entity and portrays Meyer Lansky and associates as business allies by convenience. Most of the book seems to have been culled from interviews with Buddy Lansky, Meyer Lanksy's quadraplegic son who died shortly before publication. From that perspective most of Lansky's life involves his personal life including his fights with his first (insane) wife and his relationship with his second wife hated by all three children. There are anecdotes about his rebellious daughter Sandra, his emotionally crippled son Paul and his physically crippled son Buddy. In one of the anecdotes Paul's daughter, Myra Lansky, tries to contact him after 8 years of silence only to be told by Sandra to respect Paul's privacy. (like a father has a right to completely ignore and forget about his children). Another anecdote concerns the fact that Meyer blamed Buddy's wife for his financial troubles and Buddy told his wife "my dad thinks we should get a divorce" and on that alone, divorced her. What comes out of this book is a miserable life of a guy who was a fighter all his life and didn't have enough business sense to go straight. All of his investments ultimately failed and his legal troubles ate up all of his money. He couldn't even emigrate to Israel when he rediscovered his Jewish roots. While we are left with a sad portrait of Meyer Lansky's personal life there seems to be fairly light treatment of his professional life. Some of the gambling institutions are covered and there is a chapter on the Cuban connection but once we are in the last two decades it's all heart attacks and fights with the second wife. One feels slightly cheated even though the author makes a point to stress that Meyer Lansky was not as financial successful as the myths around him would have you believe ("bigger than U.S. Steel, $300 million, etc.) but he did somehow find the money to pay for that lawyer and those trips to Israel. Toward the end this becomes a depressing grim book. The only point of gaiety is Meyer and all his friends sitting around tv watching a miniseries based on his exploits. All in all this is an excellent gangster novel for anyone who wants a more truthful accounting of mob life in America. However, if these truths were discovered at the outset, the myth of Meyer Lansky would not have grown to the extent that books like this would need to be written. It's not as fun as the mythology, but then again that's the point. If you want a mob book that buys into the conspiracy and mythology check out The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano.
Rating: 
Summary: A well written whitewash
Review: After I read this book I couldn't help but smile. This is the ultimate whitewash book. After having spent years of investigating Meyer Lansky and his criminal world, I can honsetly tell you, this is not a book about Meyer Lansky. This is a book about Robert Lacey misunderstanding Meyer Lansky. Laceys information comes mostly from Lanskys family, then especially from his disabled son, Buddy Lansky. What Lacey should've done is look more into the work Hank Messick did on Lansky. Messick got his information from the underworld itself and interviewed gangsters, prosecutors and FBI men. Lacey overlooks these sources. Let's be realistic here. Lacey claims Lansky poured all his money into The Riviera Hotel in Havana. This is a ridiclious claim!. Lansky was known to spread his money all over the place. His specialty was laundering mafia money through mob controlled banks (like Bank Of World Commerce) or through Swiss bank accounts. Lansky had used these methods since the '30s. He made a fortune from his bootlegging enterprises and it is well known Lansky skimmed more money from Vegas then probably any other mob figure. Top mafia informant, Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno, one-time underboss of the L.A. Cosa Nostra Family repeatedly emphasized Lanskys strong hold on the skimming in Vegas. "Meyer Lansky and his group skimmed more money then anybody in the world. From Las Vegas alone, they got 300 million easy!". That's a direct quote from Fratianno himself. Of course Lansky wasn't stupid and he would have many people believe that he indeed lost everything in Cuba. Hank Messick used to say, Meyer Lansky didn't own property, he owned people. And as far as the mystery surrounding Lansky, you have to look at the people around him. Appearantly men like Alvin Malnik missed Laceys eye. If you wanna know about Lansky, then read Hank Messick or "Mogul Of The Mob" by Uri Dan and Dennis Eisenberg.
Rating:
Summary: A well written whitewash
Review: After reading Mr. Lacey's fanciful account of the life and times of Meyer Lansky, I can honestly say I haven't seen this much whitewash since "Tom Sawyer." Did Mr. Lacey actually expect me to believe that Meyer Lansky was little more than an unscrupulous business man and not one of the founding architects of modern organized crime. Right! Okay! What color is the sky in your world Lacey? And I suppose Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was a singing waiter in Queens? Benjamin Siegal (I won't use the name he hated) was a streetcar driver? Perhaps time has inflated the legend surrounding these men, but the fact remains, these men built an empire on the bodies of their enemies and consecrated with the blood those who stood in their way. To sweep their contributions to organized crime under the carpet like so much dust in not only irresponsible, but dangerous in fostering the idea that organized crime is not a viable threat to our society. In the future I would recommend Mr. Lacey write children's books. They are far more suited to fantasy than the men who took gangsters out of the backrooms and into the boardrooms!
Rating: 
Summary: Who Do You Think You're Kidding Bobby?
Review: After reading Mr. Lacey's fanciful account of the life and times of Meyer Lansky, I can honestly say I haven't seen this much whitewash since "Tom Sawyer." Did Mr. Lacey actually expect me to believe that Meyer Lansky was little more than an unscrupulous business man and not one of the founding architects of modern organized crime. Right! Okay! What color is the sky in your world Lacey? And I suppose Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was a singing waiter in Queens? Benjamin Siegal (I won't use the name he hated) was a streetcar driver? Perhaps time has inflated the legend surrounding these men, but the fact remains, these men built an empire on the bodies of their enemies and consecrated with the blood those who stood in their way. To sweep their contributions to organized crime under the carpet like so much dust in not only irresponsible, but dangerous in fostering the idea that organized crime is not a viable threat to our society. In the future I would recommend Mr. Lacey write children's books. They are far more suited to fantasy than the men who took gangsters out of the backrooms and into the boardrooms!
Rating:
Summary: Lansky was a criminal in Relative Terms
Review: Fascinating book about a highly successful businessman. If it were not for the excessive values imposed by prohibitions advocates and anti-gambling advocates, Meyer Lansky would have been a respected businessman. The book reveals, and I believe it to be true, that the demand for the "illegal" services of Meyer Lansky and other mobsters was from a whole cross section of society. Everyone from the average working person, to professionals, to politicians created the market for liquor and gambling that Meyer Lansky supplied. I think this book exposes a societal hypocrisy. The mere fact that we have a fascination with crime which we demonstrate by flocking to the theater to see The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Casino, and nominate academy awards to the actors and producers seems quite contrary to our law enforcement. While Meyer Lansky may very well have been involved in or responsible for some real crimes such as murder, extortion, narcotics, etc., the main "crimes" revealed in this book for which he was known (liquor and gambling), were really only competition with the government for distribution. Meyer Lansky was revealed to be honest and trustworthy amongst the people he dealt with, yet he is labeled a criminal. While many "legitimate" businessmen are complete crooks. You may not condone all of Meyer Lansky's activities (I don't), however, you will not be able to help having a certain respect for the man and what he did.
Rating:
Summary: Criminal revisionism
Review: I can only assume the applauding professional and amateur reviewers were swept away by Lacey's evocative descriptions of Lansky's surroundings and cultural background. Lacey's detailed study is, I will readily admit, finely wrought, but this book should have been sold as fiction. Besides totally whitewashing Lansky, "Little Man" is peppered with countless factual errors (e.g. Joe the Boss Masseria was not waiting for a late lunch when he got hit in 1931-- he'd already eaten a huge lunch), many of which bolster the author's fantastic characterization of his subject. Where is there any discussion of Lansky's operation in Covington, Kentucky? Why is Murder, Inc. mentioned only three times in this book when Lansky was crucial to Siegel and Lepke's killing-for-hire enterprise? I certainly understand a biographer's decision to lionize his/her subject, but this exoneration of a well-documented monster is criminal.
Rating:
Summary: Criminal revisionism
Review: I can only assume the applauding professional and amateur reviewers were swept away by Lacey's evocative descriptions of Lansky's surroundings and cultural background. Lacey's detailed study is, I will readily admit, finely wrought, but this book should have been sold as fiction. Besides totally whitewashing Lansky, "Little Man" is peppered with countless factual errors (e.g. Joe the Boss Masseria was not waiting for a late lunch when he got hit in 1931-- he'd already eaten a huge lunch), many of which bolster the author's fantastic characterization of his subject. Where is there any discussion of Lansky's operation in Covington, Kentucky? Why is Murder, Inc. mentioned only three times in this book when Lansky was crucial to Siegel and Lepke's killing-for-hire enterprise? I certainly understand a biographer's decision to lionize his/her subject, but this exoneration of a well-documented monster is criminal.
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