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A review by interphantom
Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the Fbi, 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough
1.0
I'll be honest, maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to read this but I just couldn't finish it. I haven't "given up" on a book in a long time, but I was deploring this book and it was turning into a chore to read.
It wasn't the subject matter that I had an issue with (I'm obsessed with the time period, and especially the Mafia and underworld.) There was just too many story lines going on at once; there were a few major ones like Dillinger and Bonnie/Clyde, but then there were minor ones you needed to keep on the back burner because it would pop back up from time to time. You had to remember every relative (from blood relative to brother-in-law of step-sisters) because at some point in time, someone would go back to their house to hideout. You had to remember every low-level FBI agent because they would all of sudden be in the forefront and called upon to chase someone down. It was too much to retain while keeping it interesting.
The other big issue I had was that the writing style was just too schizophrenic and all over the place. I felt like there was too much trying to be shoved into to small of a package. In a paragraph, it would go from bank robbery to store robbery to police chase to prison to escape to.. etc, etc. Then out of nowhere it would have one or two lines from someone talking. It felt like Burrough had a number of note cards with facts and purported conversations on them that he just shoved together into a paragraph. After awhile of reading, it turned from an interesting book into a college thesis history paper.
My final qualm with the writing was that I felt it was extremely opinionated. You could feel the author's emotions coming through in various points, like his obvious disdain for Bonnie and Clyde. I was reading this book for historical narrative, not for a psychological breakdown of Clyde's self-image issues.
Ultimately, I gave up about halfway through the book because I just didn't care anymore. Which is really really sad because I care a lot about the subject matter.
**Updated** I finished the book. I gave up on caring about the minor characters and pushed through. I still stand behind my earlier review though, and wouldn't suggest it to others.
It wasn't the subject matter that I had an issue with (I'm obsessed with the time period, and especially the Mafia and underworld.) There was just too many story lines going on at once; there were a few major ones like Dillinger and Bonnie/Clyde, but then there were minor ones you needed to keep on the back burner because it would pop back up from time to time. You had to remember every relative (from blood relative to brother-in-law of step-sisters) because at some point in time, someone would go back to their house to hideout. You had to remember every low-level FBI agent because they would all of sudden be in the forefront and called upon to chase someone down. It was too much to retain while keeping it interesting.
The other big issue I had was that the writing style was just too schizophrenic and all over the place. I felt like there was too much trying to be shoved into to small of a package. In a paragraph, it would go from bank robbery to store robbery to police chase to prison to escape to.. etc, etc. Then out of nowhere it would have one or two lines from someone talking. It felt like Burrough had a number of note cards with facts and purported conversations on them that he just shoved together into a paragraph. After awhile of reading, it turned from an interesting book into a college thesis history paper.
My final qualm with the writing was that I felt it was extremely opinionated. You could feel the author's emotions coming through in various points, like his obvious disdain for Bonnie and Clyde. I was reading this book for historical narrative, not for a psychological breakdown of Clyde's self-image issues.
Ultimately, I gave up about halfway through the book because I just didn't care anymore. Which is really really sad because I care a lot about the subject matter.
**Updated** I finished the book. I gave up on caring about the minor characters and pushed through. I still stand behind my earlier review though, and wouldn't suggest it to others.