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erinflight's review
2.0
This book takes place almost entirely in the first twenty-five years of Sandra Lansky's life.
It's about her childhood, and her teenage years, and then, her father's death. After that, supposedly, her life is entirely normal and we hear nothing about it.
And I think that's why this book doesn't really work. I didn't actually come into this book expecting to learn a lot about the mob. I had hoped for more details than we get, but I'm not disappointed that the daughter of a criminal didn't know that much about her father's life of crime.
But, what did disappoint me is the complete lack of reflection on any of it. This book is about Sandra Lansky's childhood. And, everything we learn about the years her father was alive are told in that child's voice, essentially. If her life since has cast perspective on the events of her childhood, she doesn't tell us about it.
I'm not surprised an eight year old has simple, positive feelings about 'uncles' she doesn't know were criminals. I am surprised that the adult woman writing this book hasn't changed her opinion in the many years since.
Sandra Lansky's childhood could have been fascinating if viewed from adult eyes and an adult mind that had since had time to reflect and understand the context she hadn't understood at the time. But without that adult perspective its kind of a dull read, and a bit of a frustrating one.
It's about her childhood, and her teenage years, and then, her father's death. After that, supposedly, her life is entirely normal and we hear nothing about it.
And I think that's why this book doesn't really work. I didn't actually come into this book expecting to learn a lot about the mob. I had hoped for more details than we get, but I'm not disappointed that the daughter of a criminal didn't know that much about her father's life of crime.
But, what did disappoint me is the complete lack of reflection on any of it. This book is about Sandra Lansky's childhood. And, everything we learn about the years her father was alive are told in that child's voice, essentially. If her life since has cast perspective on the events of her childhood, she doesn't tell us about it.
I'm not surprised an eight year old has simple, positive feelings about 'uncles' she doesn't know were criminals. I am surprised that the adult woman writing this book hasn't changed her opinion in the many years since.
Sandra Lansky's childhood could have been fascinating if viewed from adult eyes and an adult mind that had since had time to reflect and understand the context she hadn't understood at the time. But without that adult perspective its kind of a dull read, and a bit of a frustrating one.
xxstefaniereadsxx's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book features a look at the Lansky family from outside of the fishbowl of mafiadom. I've read a couple of negative reviews about how this book was all about her and not her father....clearly, it is a book about her life. She was a child. She probably did not understand the inner workings of an organized crime family. She tells about HER life from HER perspective. There are other works about Meyer Lansky the gangster that would be more suitable if one wanted to read about him specifically. Sandra Lanksy was a spoiled little kid, who loved her father beyond measure. Her father was in a position financially to spoil her absolutely rotten, and I believe he did a great job of that. In so many of the mafia books I have read, it talks about how they separate themselves a lot of the time from their actual family life in an effort to keep the business out of their families lives- partially in an attempt to keep them safe and partially in an attempt to keep them from having information to give to authorities. It was interesting to read an account from someone on the other side of the veil. I enjoyed the book, and think other people would if they approached it from the viewpoint that it is not a biography on Meyer Lansky.
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