Items related to Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life

Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life - Hardcover

 
9780316511681: Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
The story of Meyer Lansky and the criminal empire he supervised exposes the harsh reality of life in the underworld and demonstrates how Lansky's desire to achieve mythic status as an outlaw ultimately destroyed him

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews:
Superb revisionist biography not only of Meyer Lansky but also of the supposed American-Italian crime corporation called the Mafia; by the author of The Kingdom (1981) and Ford (1986). Lacey's larger message is that the Mafia is really like local groups of Freemasons, with sometimes quite active links between one another but not congealed into a centrally structured organization. There is ``no shadowy General Motors of crime.'' Moreover, the Mafia's way of life, Lacey shows, is less than mythic: ``The average mafioso, and much of his self-esteem, stem from the stereotypes that have been created by the media...Their lives are pale copies of the vigor and creativity of the straight world--and the clever ones like Meyer Lansky learn to copy its honesty as well.'' Lansky several times tried to set up businesses in the straight world, only to have them go under and find himself still stuck in the world of gambling. He suffered a brutal youth on New York's Lower East Side but early was taken under the wing of Arnold Rothstein, a.k.a. ``The Brain,'' who kept all his criminal businesses discrete--and kept their books in his head. Lansky, too, became famed for his head for figures, as well as for his lack of greed and his honesty in sharing. He was misquoted as saying that ``the Mafia'' was bigger than US Steel (he said ``organized crime'' was), and his reputed $300 million nest egg was fantasy, as Lacey makes clear. Lansky was a genius among his fellow thugs, but died almost broke while living modestly in retirement in Miami and caring for his ulcers and triple bypass. In 1974, he phoned Lee Strasberg to tell him, ``You did good'' (as the Hyman Roth/Lansky character in Godfather II): ``The deep voice on the phone was flesh and blood seeking contact with the celluloid image....'' Shoots huge holes in the great American gangster myth--and its many bad reporters. Enthralling. (Thirty-two pages of b&w photographs--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly:
This biography of the notorious hoodlum by the author of The Kingdom succeeds in deglamorizing a gangland figure around whom all sorts of mythology was created, both during his lifetime and after. A product of the ghetto on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Lansky (1902?-1983) spent his adolescence developing the conviction that, if there were an honest and a dishonest way of achieving a goal, the dishonest way was preferable. Like many members of organized crime in his era, he became a specialist, working with casinos. He was rigidly honest about not cheating the public and paying his partners their due. His family life was a horror: Lansky's first wife became semi-psychotic and their three children had miserable lives; his second marriage was somewhat better. The media-generated image of a financial eminence grise worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the gangland chairman of the board, was largely fictional. A major contribution to the history of organized crime in the U.S. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherLittle Brown & Co
  • Publication date1991
  • ISBN 10 0316511684
  • ISBN 13 9780316511681
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages547
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780316511636: Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780316511636
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 1992
Softcover

  • 9780099971306: Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life

    Little..., 1992
    Softcover

  • 9780517105368: Little Man: Meyer Lansky & the Gangster Life

    Random..., 1993
    Hardcover

  • 9780712624268: Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life

    Little..., 1991
    Hardcover

  • 9783785706527: Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life.

    Publisher
    Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown & Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0316511684

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 31.07
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown & Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0316511684

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 30.83
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown & Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0316511684

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 31.70
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
LibraryMercantile
(Humble, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # newMercantile_0316511684

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 34.07
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0316511684

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 33.23
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown & Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0316511684-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 45.27
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown & Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0316511684-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 45.28
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Robert Lacey
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Librairie Le Nord
(Hearst, ON, Canada)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: Like New. 160 mm X 240 mm. 547 pages. Seller Inventory # 070660

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.29
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 18.00
From Canada to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown & Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 2. Seller Inventory # Q-0316511684

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 58.83
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 5.61
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Lacey, Robert
Published by Little Brown & Co (1991)
ISBN 10: 0316511684 ISBN 13: 9780316511681
New Hardcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:
Pieuler Store
(Suffolk, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: new. 1st. Book is in NEW condition. Satisfaction Guaranteed! Fast Customer Service!!. Seller Inventory # PSN0316511684

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 81.58
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 31.53
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds