My Life in the NYPD: Jimmy the Wags

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting read.
Review: I don't read much. I found this book on this site, read the reviews, decided to order it and give it a chance. Of all the books i have read, this is the most interesting and funniest books.

After showing a few funny parts to my friends, they all said i have a sick humour. One part reading about a guy who tried to kill him self by jumping off a building but fails. The way it was written was soo funny. Anyway, there are many many more interesting/funny parts.

After i read it i came online to buy Wags first book, but because it is no where to be found, i haven't been able to get it yet. However i have bought 2 other books similar this 'My Life in the NYPD."

Very enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: The best non-fiction NYPD Book I've ever read
Review: I picked this book up in of all places an Eckards drugstore and expected something that would keep my interest yet not be very memorable. Instead what i got was one of the finest books I have ever read period. The reason this book works so well is because Wags has no ego. No stories are present in a way to make him a hero and honesty rings throughout the entire book. The other reviewers have already mentioned the layout of the book so I will only say that this book contains stories you will never forget. I work in NYC and it is extremely interesting to read about the City in to 70s and 80s when it was cesspool..it really makes one appreciate Guliani and the miracle he performed. If I had to draw a parallel to this book, I would compare it to the best of Wambaugh. Wags write about so many fascinating characters that each chapter is like a mini book unto itself. Very importantly, Wags finishes each story with an update on the individual and or event, so you are not left wondering what happened. All in all, the finest police writing I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: The best non-fiction NYPD Book I've ever read
Review: I picked this book up in of all places an Eckards drugstore and expected something that would keep my interest yet not be very memorable. Instead what i got was one of the finest books I have ever read period. The reason this book works so well is because Wags has no ego. No stories are present in a way to make him a hero and honesty rings throughout the entire book. The other reviewers have already mentioned the layout of the book so I will only say that this book contains stories you will never forget. I work in NYC and it is extremely interesting to read about the City in to 70s and 80s when it was cesspool..it really makes one appreciate Guliani and the miracle he performed. If I had to draw a parallel to this book, I would compare it to the best of Wambaugh. Wags write about so many fascinating characters that each chapter is like a mini book unto itself. Very importantly, Wags finishes each story with an update on the individual and or event, so you are not left wondering what happened. All in all, the finest police writing I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Authentic, fast paced and action packed
Review: James Wagner, nicknamed "Jimmy the Wags" is a retired New York City street cop who, with the help of writer Patrick Picciarelli, also a retired cop, describes his police experiences in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 60s, 70s and 80s. It's an authentic voice that rings with the cadence of the city and the job he worked day after day, dealing with the dregs of society and everyday crime, as well as some of the major social issues of the time.

We first meet Jimmy as a nine-year old boy, listening to Dragnet with his police officer father in their Staten Island home. We follow him through the police academy and then out to the streets. We meet his fellow cops and feel the pressures of the job, watching some of them turn into alcoholics or commit suicide. We see how many of the rules are bent to accommodate the reality of what is going on in the street. We're right alongside Jimmy, feeling his anger and despair when he goes to funeral services for fellow cops brutally gunned down. We meet celebrities and junkies and Hell's Angels and other assorted oddball characters. We're surprised at some stories, and we cringe at others and wonder how one man could have experienced so many outrageous things. Then we realize that these are the highlights of a long career, all compressed into a fast paced, action packed narrative with something new on every page. It's a good story, well told. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Authentic, fast paced and action packed
Review: James Wagner, nicknamed "Jimmy the Wags" is a retired New York City street cop who, with the help of writer Patrick Picciarelli, also a retired cop, describes his police experiences in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 60s, 70s and 80s. It's an authentic voice that rings with the cadence of the city and the job he worked day after day, dealing with the dregs of society and everyday crime, as well as some of the major social issues of the time.

We first meet Jimmy as a nine-year old boy, listening to Dragnet with his police officer father in their Staten Island home. We follow him through the police academy and then out to the streets. We meet his fellow cops and feel the pressures of the job, watching some of them turn into alcoholics or commit suicide. We see how many of the rules are bent to accommodate the reality of what is going on in the street. We're right alongside Jimmy, feeling his anger and despair when he goes to funeral services for fellow cops brutally gunned down. We meet celebrities and junkies and Hell's Angels and other assorted oddball characters. We're surprised at some stories, and we cringe at others and wonder how one man could have experienced so many outrageous things. Then we realize that these are the highlights of a long career, all compressed into a fast paced, action packed narrative with something new on every page. It's a good story, well told. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Wags delivers the goods - - NYPD the real way!
Review: Jimmy does it again! This book deals with his years in the NYPD, and goes right up to the start of his PI career (the first book). As before he delivers the goods retelling his most amazing and dazzling stories of life and crime in New York in a personal and well written way. The book also deals with the person behind the badge, the associates, the friends, the family, and not the least the importance of not letting the job get to you. Starting out in the 60's to the early 90's the way cops work has changed tremendously and Wags takes you on that ride!!! Recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: Wags delivers the goods - - NYPD the real way!
Review: Jimmy does it again! This book deals with his years in the NYPD, and goes right up to the start of his PI career (the first book). As before he delivers the goods retelling his most amazing and dazzling stories of life and crime in New York in a personal and well written way. The book also deals with the person behind the badge, the associates, the friends, the family, and not the least the importance of not letting the job get to you. Starting out in the 60's to the early 90's the way cops work has changed tremendously and Wags takes you on that ride!!! Recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: the ring of truth
Review: This second book by the 'Wags' is a thrilling ride through the streets of lower Manhatten with the siren going full blast. Written in a no-nonsense style, here is a book about New York that you can really get your teeth into. If you know NYC, then you know that there is little, if any, exaggeration. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction, and every one of the weird situations and perverted personalities has the ring of truth. What a great adventure it was for me, who was a teenager on the streets of New York, to read what was really going on behind the scenes, the stories you never got to read. This isn't just a book about brutality in the streets. Wagner is a cop with a heart, and had a passion for his job. Although the tone is often nostalgic, it is never overly sentimental or mawkish. Here is a beautiful kaleidoscope of the city in all its rawness. Read it and see!