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Title: The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone (Illinois) by Curt Johnson, R. Craig Sautter ISBN: 0-306-80821-8 Publisher: Da Capo Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.50

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Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: An Unsung Nugget
Comment: I have read a number of books on Chicago during the time of Al Capone including three of his biographies, but this book is an overlooked gem. I accidentally came across it here at Amazon and decided to give it a try. All the colorful characters are here including those Lords of the Levee (Bathhouse John and Hinky Dink) and a number of gangsters during that time period you may have heard of and others that will likely be new to you. Yes, there are chapters of the McCormicks of Chicago, Jack Dempsey, the boxing champion of the time period, Louis Armstrong, and buffoon mayor, Big Bill Thompson. Some readers may feel they are being told more than they care to know about Chicago prior to and during the Capone era. I did not feel this way. I have often wondered what happened to a number of the lesser lights who were not as well known. The author provides us with this information. Also pointed out is that just saying a gangster was shot a number of times and killed doesn't do justice to the horror of what takes place. In addition to the tears of loved ones there is "no romance in mob warfare, only life's red blood, torn flesh, and death." Many of these mobsters died in their twenties or thirties. Sooner or later, usually sooner, most of them found their way to Mt. Carmel Cemetery. This book rates a solid five stars. I wish it was in hard cover. If you are interested in this time period I would suggest you get a copy and read it. You will not be disappointed.

Rating: 2
Summary: a narrative of no flow
Comment: I'm the sure that the main draw to this book concerns the seedy, gangster underworld of Chicago. I don't know if I have enough patience to get there; the narrative so far relates sound-bite stories of the founders, urban planners, and architects who first erected this city. It's extremely interesting material, but Johnson's flits over it all in barely readable, fragmented prose. Furthermore, as one unfamiliar with the city (especially as it was in the 1800s), his descriptions of the landscape (and the design of the buildings) leaves me still with a black box imagination of what the city looks like. Pictures or illustrations would well suit the understanding of this book, which would lead to the (hopeful point of the story) understanding of the city.

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