Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life (Super Sound Buys)

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: i couldn't put this book down.never mind hollywood's gangster take this book is the real deal.little man is very detailing.it's a must have for folks that love to read about folks connected to the mob.you won't wanna put this book down.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I have read books on the mafia with a plethora of information but without a well written story, or I have read books with a good story but with unreliable information. This however is the best of both worlds, he provides very reliable and detailed information but keeps it a good story so you don't want to put the book down. He provides Information both on his personal life and his life as a gangster and how each was effected by the life he chose. This book also did the job of clearing up a few myths such as: the fixing of the 1919 world series and who was really behind it, he even went into enough detail to give the odds for the different casino games. I would say that if this wasn't my favorite mafia biography or mafia book period, it is tied for first.

Rating:
Summary: "Little Man" but larger impact than Lacey allows.
Review: I spotted the book's cover among a a pile of publications in my local bookshop, not least because the author's name appeared in much larger and shinier letters than the name of the subject of the biography, Meyer Lansky: Little Man - Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life. That first impression warned me that iconoclasm was afoot and the prologue left me in no doubt. By repeating on the first page the anecdotal report of the reverential way in which Bugsy Seigal and Joe Adonis whispered their respect for the Little Man - "Can you believe it? he's a member of the Book-of-the-Month-Club" - Lacey immediately implies the invalidity of all previous claims that Lansky was the most powerful, ruthless, intelligent and wealthy gangster of all time. Also by implication he insults every member of the Book-of-the-Month-Club - a little unwise perhaps, for someone who seeks high circulation for his books. Some would have interpreted that episode differently and used it to illustrate why Lansky was indeed able to control the Italian mob. In the Land of the Illiterate, the Book-of-the-Month-Club member is King. It is not necessary to be a Pulitzer Prize winner where supremacy is determined by a ruthless willingness to kill for business reasons or in internecine strife. It also helps to be numerate - which Meyer certainly was. Almost a decade after the subject's death, this book is probably the last on Lansky. It will probably become the definitive work, not least because it is superbly annotated with an almost comprehensive bibliography. It resuscitates the jaded argument about the importance, power and indeed the very existence of the heirarchical structure within OC. Lacey not only challenges "the Lansky myth" - the "bigger than US Steel" boast; he pooh-poohs the traditional concept of US Organized Crime as a corporate entity of international, or even national significance. In the dock are most of those who have previously written about Lansky; all Federal and State law enforcement; investigative politicians - in particular Estes Kefauver, a pioneer of what Lacey feels was a perennial witch-hunt by Senate investigation. The first count is credulity; the second feeding the myth for selfish or political reasons. Having studied the Lansky phenomenon for over three decades, first as cop, then later as TV documentary journalist; believing that Lansky was at least the first among equals of the top echelon of OC for at least 50 years, I may not be alone in feeling slightly uncomfortable in studying some of Lacey's new data gleaned from immediate family and friends of Lansky. Particularly the poignant testimony of his crippled eldest son, Buddy. Meyer's human foibles are brought into focus here than in any other book on Lansky. Lacey has gone over the top, however, with his eulogy on Lansky's humanity and is far too critical of previous biographers. His wingeing and swingeing attack on law enforcement is grossly unfair. Donald Cressey in his book "Theft of the Nation" may have constructed the corpoprate infrastructure of the Mob somewhat too rigidly in his analysis of the national crime syndicate and others may have hung too much of their own bunting on his flagship. But for Lacey to suggest that because Lansky became ill and frail in the post-sixties period of his life and lost grip of his criminal empire, it therefore follows that there was never an empire in the first place and that ergo the syndicate did not exist either, is taking the proposition too far. Lacey traces Lansky's career with liberal mitigation and through rose tinted spectacles donated by the family and close frinds of the Little Man. He avers that once Lansky had gone through his youthful violent stage on the streets of Lower Manhattan with Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Seigal, et al, and had consolidated his sound business acumen by bootlegging during prohibition, he settled down in the more placid pastures of carpet joint gambling, the grey or "consensual" area of crime, mainly in Florida, with some investment in Las Vegas and later on a more grandiose scale in Havana, Cuba. There he managed to accrue a medium sized fortune, but lost most of it when his old friend, dictator Batista, was ousted by the revolutionary Castro. From then on Lansky went steadily down hill financially. Though it is not denied that he had dealings with many heavy criminals and partners in various enterprises, Lacey belives that Lansky eschewed violence and kept himself out of serious trouble with the authorities because he paid his taxes and cheated no more than the average legitimate entrepreneur (or author). However, in his declining years a combination of serious illness, his troublesome family and harassment by law enforcement, left him a broken man. When in his final hours, he screamed, "Let me go!" it was as much a cry to his cruel law enfocement pursuers as to his doctor and family at his deathbed. Another gem for the "famous last words" collection and the final protest of a pain racked old man, physically broken, but not in spirit. When he finally gave up the ghost, most of those who had hounded him for ther preceding 20 years still believed that he had been the trustee of a vast hoard of wealth - the property of the crime syndicate which he controlled and counselled from his sick bed. None had succeeded in locating it, or if they had, they had failed to declare it. Although some of Robert Lacey's doubts and interpretations had ben aired previousdly by skeptics, they have not been marshalled with such force and such data to back up the argument. It is up to my US friends in law enforcement and in the academic world to cite the plethora of evidence filed over the years. It had satisfied me beyond reasonable doubt that there was more to Lansky than localised corruption and loose, ad hoc, short-lived confederations of self-seeking parochial mafia familes ... the scenario which Lacey would have us believe. It is true to say that in spite of exhaustive investigations by hundreds of sleuths; decimation of mafia familes by successful prosecution and the treachery of thousands of snitches ( omerta - schmerta!); not to mention a Permanent Senate Sub-Committee on Investigations, many mysteries remain. But it is disingenuous to lace what we do know about this poisonous ocean of criminality with the spoonful of sugar discovered by Lacey, then swallow it and declare it palatable. The key to Lacey's failure to grasp the Lansky phenomenon is his perception of the gambling industry. His book exposes him as an apologist for it and he indicates that America should do what the British have done and legalize it nationally rather than sectively and hand it over to the criminal fraternity as a "respectable" living. I can tell Mr Lacey that it didn't improve things here and neither would it in the States. Gambling was for many years "the lifeblood of organized crime" and though the arteries of the Mob perhaps now carry a greater percentage of drug corpuscles than blue chips, there is still a few pints of the old stuff washing around in the body politic of crime. Apart from the proceeds of the industry, both legal and illegal, gambling's role in corruption of officials is paramount. The casinos provide an interface for easy covert transfer of funds in return for immunity and influence, as well as an ideal facility for money laundering, drug trafficking and prostitution; all activities that Mr Lacey seems prepared to accept Lansky was not involved in and which I for one am not prepared to accept for one minute. Missing from Lacey's otherwise excellent bibliography on Lansky are a number of books he would have done well to read, viz. "The Secret File" by Hank Messick; The Green Felt Jungle" and "The Boardwalk Jungle" both by Ovid Demaris (the first co-authored by Ed Reid); and "Gambler's Money" by Wallace Turner. I also think that his conclusions would have differed had he studied more deeply the labyrinthine connections between the gambling industry, the Mob and the multinational

Rating:
Summary: Well written, well focused
Review: The book besides giving a clear account of the gangster life he had, it is also well succeded to show his family laces and how they ended giving the reader a broad view of his life as a whole

Rating:
Summary: Scholarship, mostly.
Review: This is a solid piece of cut-and-paste research and the best one-volume on Lansky. But it won't satisfy those who have read Lacey's sources and are looking for something new. What was it about the wiseguy lifestyle that made it attractive, especially to the sons of immigrants? Why did Lansky need the discipline of omerta? There's no insight into Meyer's personality, just facts. Lacey does not have all the facts. He doesn't mention that Bugsy Seigal was skimming, ripping off his partners, and had left a fortune with Jimmy the Greek for safekeeping. But Lacey puts big issues into perspective: the disorganization of organized crime; the lack of scope in Lansky's genius; the misinformation in reputable newspapers; the distortive and corrosive effect of secrecy on politics; and Meyer's lack of luck, in life and love. No wonder; Lansky valued being a stand-up guy over life or love, and paid the price for it. His motivation was simple: to get out of the ghetto. Those who have been there know the dynamics of this imperative and the power it has over those who accept the challenge "by any means necessary" as a method of survival. Lacey doesn't get it; and so, while he avoids easy answers and moralistic traps, he misses the juice of what made Lansky sizzle.

Rating:
Summary: Dispells many myths about "gangsterism."
Review: This is the book for someone who really wants to know what the gangster life was all about. Quite unlike the dramatic movies, like the Godfather, and Godfather II, Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life tells the whole story about the infamous gangster. The author went through great lengths to get accounts from family and friends, business partners and enemies. I'm not much of a reader, but I finished this 550 page book in three days. I was interested in finding out the truth about Meyer Lansky. If that is what you are looking for, this is the book to read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, intelligent
Review: Œwietna ksi¹¿ka.polecam ka¿demu.Dawno nie czyta³em tak zajmuj¹cej opowieœci o cz³owieku znik¹d (z polski)który ciê¿k¹ prac¹ doszed³ do szczytu w³adzy i pieniêdzy. Myœlê, ¿e Lanski by³ wtedy wiêkszy ni¿ Gates dziœ. Przeczytajcie bo warto.