Citizen Cohn

Based on interviews with family, colleagues, and friends, this biography offers a comprehensive portrait of Roy Cohn, his ideological passions, personal life, and patterns of power and money

$19.95. biog Roy Cohn was not so much a lawyer as an operator. All his life, he preferred manipulating connections with the rich and powerful to playing by the rules diligently. von Hoffman's biography is a fuller and more damning account than Sidney Zion's The Autobiography of Roy Cohn ( LJ 4/15/88), but it is fair; the extensive testimony from friends and foes alike make this almost an oral history. The chapter on Cohn's Washington years as counsel to Senator Joe McCarthy seems curiously out of focus, but the narrative quickly picks up steam as it details the indictments by Bobby Kennedy's Justice Department, the glory years as New York power broker, and finally disbarment and death from AIDS. This fascinating story of a figure at once brilliant and outrageous is highly recommended for public libraries. Jack Ray, Loyola/Notre Dame Lib., Baltimore
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.