Overview

In a brief life that led to a violent end, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (1906–1947) rose from desperate poverty to ill-gotten riches, from an early-twentieth-century family of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side to a kingdom of his own making in Las Vegas. In this captivating portrait, author Michael Shnayerson sets out not to absolve Bugsy Siegel but rather to understand him in all his complexity.   Through the 1920s, 1930s, and most of the 1940s, Bugsy Siegel and his longtime partner in crime Meyer Lansky engaged in innumerable acts of violence. As World War II came to an end, Siegel saw the potential for a huge, elegant casino resort in the sands of Las Vegas. Jewish gangsters built nearly all of the Vegas casinos that followed. Then, one by one, they disappeared. Siegel’s story laces through a larger, generational story of eastern European Jewish immigrants in the early- to mid-twentieth century.

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9780300226195

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Reviews

Fast-paced and absorbing. . . . With a keen eye for the amusing, and humanizing detail, [Shnayerson] enlivens the traditional rise-and-fall narrative. -Jenna Weissman Joselit, New York Times Book Review [A] brisk-reading chronicle of Siegel's life and crimes. -Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal A pacey and thoughtful biography...part of Yale University Press's excellent Jewish Lives series -The Economist This latest, punchiest and most compact biography of Siegel arrives in the Yale 'Jewish Lives' series...Shnayerson's brief life of Bugsy is a fun, absorbing read that helps make sense of an emotionally complex gangster. And it's just long enough to fill one of those transatlantic flights many of us are waiting to take again. -Scott Bradfield, The Spectator This is an excellent biography for those more interested in the shape of Siegel's life and career rather than the lurid details, and it is admirably cautious on the mythology. -Strong Words Shnayerson does a remarkable job of humanizing a man he admits to being a vicious killer ....He even poses reasonable objections to the common belief that Siegel was a sociopath. -Michael Saler, Times Literary Supplement An amazing job. I learned a lot. A great book about real gangsters when gangsters were real. -Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy Insightful, well-written, and carefully researched, this is the best and most complete biography of the notorious gangster Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel in print. -Robert Rockaway, author of But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters A wonderful exploration of the dark side of the American dream via Bugsy Siegel, the personification of the dark side and the dream. Just as stylish as Bugsy himself. A fabulous book. -Rich Cohen, author of Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams

Fast-paced and absorbing. . . . With a keen eye for the amusing, and humanizing detail, [Shnayerson] enlivens the traditional rise-and-fall narrative. -Jenna Weissman Joselit, New York Times Book Review [A] brisk-reading chronicle of Siegel's life and crimes. -Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal A pacey and thoughtful biography...part of Yale University Press's excellent Jewish Lives series -The Economist This latest, punchiest and most compact biography of Siegel arrives in the Yale 'Jewish Lives' series...Shnayerson's brief life of Bugsy is a fun, absorbing read that helps make sense of an emotionally complex gangster. And it's just long enough to fill one of those transatlantic flights many of us are waiting to take again. -Scott Bradfield, The Spectator This is an excellent biography for those more interested in the shape of Siegel's life and career rather than the lurid details, and it is admirably cautious on the mythology. -Strong Words An amazing job. I learned a lot. A great book about real gangsters when gangsters were real. -Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy Insightful, well-written, and carefully researched, this is the best and most complete biography of the notorious gangster Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel in print. -Robert Rockaway, author of But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters A wonderful exploration of the dark side of the American dream via Bugsy Siegel, the personification of the dark side and the dream. Just as stylish as Bugsy himself. A fabulous book. -Rich Cohen, author of Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams

An amazing job. I learned a lot. A great book about real gangsters when gangsters were real. -Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy Insightful, well-written, and carefully researched, this is the best and most complete biography of the notorious gangster Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel in print. -Robert Rockaway, author of But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters A wonderful exploration of the dark side of the American dream via Bugsy Siegel, the personification of the dark side and the dream. Just as stylish as Bugsy himself. A fabulous book. - Rich Cohen, author of Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams

Fast-paced and absorbing. . . . With a keen eye for the amusing, and humanizing detail, [Shnayerson] enlivens the traditional rise-and-fall narrative. -Jenna Weissman Joselit, New York Times Book Review [A] brisk-reading chronicle of Siegel's life and crimes. -Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal An amazing job. I learned a lot. A great book about real gangsters when gangsters were real. -Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy Insightful, well-written, and carefully researched, this is the best and most complete biography of the notorious gangster Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel in print. -Robert Rockaway, author of But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters A wonderful exploration of the dark side of the American dream via Bugsy Siegel, the personification of the dark side and the dream. Just as stylish as Bugsy himself. A fabulous book. -Rich Cohen, author of Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams

Author Information

Michael Shnayerson became a contributing editor at Vanity Fair in 1986 and is the author of eight books on a range of nonfiction subjects, including Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art.

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