Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend by Karen Blumenthal

3.75 AVERAGE

heykellyjensen's profile picture

heykellyjensen's review against another edition

Although at times this feels a little repetitive, it is because that's the story of Bonnie and Clyde. Blumenthal offers up the history of both of these infamous criminals, but she does so with the backdrop of why it is they've gained such infamy and acclaim while committing heinous crimes. Interspersed are not only photos and other artifacts, but there are excellent pulled out short bios of those who were murdered by the duo. The book isn't sensationalized and that's a topic addressed right in the text; that might also be why the book as a whole felt a little stiff and repetitive. I don't think that's a bad thing, especially as it makes readers -- like me! -- pause and consider what the expectations are going on and what the response is when exiting the book.

Good, solid YA nonfiction from an author who is excellent at writing them.

emilie_karnas's review against another edition

4.0
Excellent!!

whilhelminaharker's review against another edition

4.0

Someday they'll go down together
They'll bury them side by side
To few it will be grief, to the law a relief
But it's death for Bonnie and Clyde


I've long been fascinated by the lives of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. And as such, it's a frustration that there are so few truly unbiased accounts out there. Obviously, the families will say whatever makes them look good. The lawmen will do the same. And the fact that the most famous version, Arthur Penn's 1967 masterpiece, is an incredible movie but a not so great biopic, doesn't help matters.


This book is far from the definitive account of the lives of Bonnie and Clyde, but by taking it's time to dismantle some of the most pervasive myths about them and doing its best to compile everyone's various versions of events in a fair, level way, it reaches a deeper truth about what their lives must have been like. And it was not happy. It was sad, exhausting, lonely, and profoundly unglamorous. They lived off of pre-packaged sandwiches, slept in their car on nights they couldn't find a place to stay, and had to spend every minute of every day looking over their shoulder. Clyde was suffering from severe trauma and aftereffects from the horrors he experienced in state prison(he chopped off two of his toes to get out of hard labor in the fields - crippling him for the rest of his life - and was repeatedly raped by another inmate; who he later bludgeoned to death with a pipe and had a friend take the fall for.) Bonnie was never able to walk again after an accident ensued on the run, and either hopped on one foot or was carried by others for the rest of her life.


Again, the various conflicting accounts by former gang members, former hostages, still living family members, and still living lawmen create a Rashomon effect; there's no way to ever know exactly what happened. But by leaning into that fact and attempting to play the various accounts off of one another, while still staying brisk and enjoyable, this book is a wonderful snapshot of just what it was that made Bonnie and Clyde so appealing to a Great Depression-era pubic who read these stories on the front page of the newspaper every week, or to a modern day audience who is still digging through the rubble of their lives, trying to discover what made them tick. This book doesn't provide some grand definitive answer - but it does provide a non-judgemental look at it's subjects, and leaves readers to make up their own minds about who the legendary pair behind the photographs may really have been.

maidmarianlib's review against another edition

5.0
Approachable comprehensive look at their lives. Enjoyed how balanced it was and that it recognized the difference between fact and myth and tried to tease out each.

fudgeelizabeth9's review against another edition

4.75
adventurous informative reflective tense fast-paced

mwazowski's review against another edition

3.25
informative medium-paced

becsmc's review against another edition

5.0
I've always been an avid researcher of Bonnie and Clyde, I always got frustrated with films/tv shows getting the facts wrong. Reading this book was such a thrilling ride, I discovered things that I wasn't even aware of before, the facts of the people around the pair as well as the ones themselves is so detailed and well done.

If anyone is a fan of historical outlaw stories, this one is a perfect read.
hailstorm9's profile picture

hailstorm9's review against another edition

4.0
More like 3.5. I appreciate the author trying to give us the "most true" version of Bonnie and Clyde. I thought it would be told in a more literary nonfiction fashion, but the audiobook wasn't bad and was presented in a way that was mostly easy to understand. There were so many names and I was getting a little confused who was who.
amaliabalash's profile picture

amaliabalash's review against another edition

4.0
This was a good refresher, as I’ve read a lot about Bonnie and Clyde before. Not super in depth, but still well detailed. I especially appreciated the little bits on the victims, and the follow up on what happened to the family members and associates later.

amdame1's review against another edition

4.0
Desperate criminals or just young people who made bad choices? The story of outlaw legends Bonnie and Clyde. Very engaging. Well researched, seems to have done a very good job distinguishing between the legends and the facts. Made me sad to think about if they had been born at a different time if he would have become something else - her too, really. Interesting how the book refers to them always as Clyde and Bonnie; it is her poem that has turned them into the legend that we know as Bonnie and Clyde. Primary source photos that were taken by them and left behind as they were being pursued. Some of the deaths that could have been avoided...