5 comments about Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man Who Found $1 Million.

1. I actually read the entire book in a few hours while sitting at the beach in Gulf Shores. While it does not have the depth of Bowden's other work, it was a fun read. The main character, Joey Coyle, is an idiotic junkie who manages to piss away huge amounts of money over a short period of time. I laughed a few times and couldn't generate any sympathy for Coyle as his life spun out of control. The best part of the book will be your own daydreams as you wonder what you would do with $1.2 million.



2. Some of you may have seen the movie "Money for Nothing" with John Cusack. Some of you may even like it. The movie is partially based on the true account of Joey, a Pennsylvania drug addict, who back in the early 1980's caught a break in life. He found $1.2 million that fell off a truck and over the course of a week managed to lose most of it, before getting caught by FBI. Apart from the incredible luck this man had, nothing else is much interesting about what happened with him. Readers of the book will find out the numerous stupid choices he makes in an effort to keep the money.
   
   Bottom line - the book is interestingly written, but the story is ridiculous and doesn't deserve the time it takes to read it.
   
   - by Simon Cleveland



3. very entertaining but a little short for my taste. being a fan of Mark Bowden brought me to this book and I'm glad I read it, but honestly I should have bought it at half-price books.



4. Mark Bowden originally covered the true story of Joey Coyle and his demented $1.2 million find as a journalist. He then wrote this amazing account of the hapless Philly Longshoreman's botched and deranged attempt to keep the money.
   
   It's written in a pacey, manic style that conveys the drug-and-bizarre-circumstance fuelled whirlwind Joey found himself dropped into whilst driving back from a disappointing visit to his local dealer and discovering two unusual sacks at the side of the road contained over a million dollars in untraceable one hundred dollar bills.
   
   Applying a natural serendipity to the scenario, Joey decided to keep the money, seeing it as the will of his late Father. What follows is a story so unbelievable and, ultimately and ineluctably tragic, that it's impossible to put down.
   
   While the first half concerns the absolute insanity, excitement, and visceral thrill of the find, complete with Joey vowing to tell no one - then immediately doing the exact opposite and telling every single person he meets - paving the way for the inevitable second half: Joey's capture by the authorities. What follows is a truly fascinating analysis of public opinion, consensus morality, and the true definition of right and wrong, as the court drama unfolds and journalists from all over America pose the irresistible question: What Would You Do?
   
   Unusually concise for Mark Bowden, it's still a wonderfully written account of an amazing story, tinged with comedy, stupidity, and tragedy.



5. Finders Keepers by Mark Bowden is the true story of a guy in South Philly who stumbles upon $1.2 million which accidentally fell out of an armored truck. Obviously the reward money for return is not as great as the actual $1.2 million, and Joey Coyle decides to keep it. What follows is a series of mishaps which are only believable because the story is true. The story is well written and flows like a fast paced documentary. I really enjoyed it.
   
   The author adds two post scripts which are also enjoyable. The first is Joey's trial (yes, he does get caught, but this was never in much doubt). The second is what happens to Joey's life after the trial, including a Disney movie starring John Cusack as Joey Coyle ("Money for Nothing" - 1993 - not to be confused with a book of the same title that I recently read). Both post scripts are memorable and interesting. It is a short book and worth reading for entertainment.

5 comments about Faces of Evil: Kidnappers, Murderers, Rapists and the Forensic Artist Who Puts Them Behind Bars.

1. Welcome true crime lovers to an inside treatment of a forensic artists' skill and tenacity in bringing down the bad guys. It is refreshing to see that some very special people are out there fighting crime, one stroke at a time. Together with the Houston Police department, this forensic artist is taking her brush against crime. The story is well written and insightful. Don't miss this exciting inside account of what is good about our law enforcement professionals!



2. Very well written
   Extrodinary life of Lois Gibson
   I would recommend it to all



3. Truly amazing book. If you are interested in Forensic Art, Compositry or are just a crime story buff who loves to see the bad guys get caught, read this. It's an easy read and completely engrossing.



4. I sat down and read the entire book in one night, it was a Christmas gift from my husband. It ranks as one of the top 5 books I've ever read, and I am an avid reader. It was excellent, raw human emotion, but at the same time, like talking to a girlfriend. I just loved it. I felt a strange sense of inadequacy after reading it, like I wasn't doing enough in my own life. It really made me stop and think about my own life. If you get satisfaction out of watching "Forensic Files", "The New Detectives", "America's Most Wanted" and the like, then you will love this book. Lois is an author with a rare combination of sass, softness & wisdom - she knows her stuff but still makes you remember she's a mom and wife.



5. The Faces of Evil is a very compelling book about how a tenacious forensic artist can help to put murderers, kidnappers, and rapists behind bars. The story of Lois Gibson is a very interesting one, as a victim of a violent crime herself, she brings much more when she visits when a crime victim than a person who was not a crime victim.
   
   Lois Gibson fell into becoming a forensic artist. Her early training was drawing portaits at an amusement park. In her early career she spent time specializing in portraits, not foresenics. She would go on to pester the police department until she could prove that she could draw someone from description. Once allowed to do this, she proved she could do the job. While she wasn't immediately hired on at the Houston police department she would convince them to hire her full time, and later they did so.
   
   She has drawn pictures of many different criminals that the end result was bringing many different criminals to justice. At times these pictures were the only way to bring in criminals. She has helped to catch abusive parents, murderers of children, rapists, and so much more. This is a story of one woman's journey to aide the public is solving crimes as well as a personal story of what can happen if you set your mind to succeede.

5 comments about Della's Web.

1. Ok this story was on court tv's forensic files and HER OWN MOTHER calls her a black widow spider because she marries a sucessful man and kills him for money she is very greedy and she would have never been found out if bodies didnt tell secrets csi is a very important thing too no way would blood have spatterd on the bottom of the couch with a shooting to the head it was a very important thing to her undoing



2. This book was fascinating, but it could have been better. For instance, if there was some sort of timeline that showed what Della/Dante was doing when, in her career of marrying up and up and in between marriages. How and where did she live? Pay rent? It's just amazing that she continued to get away with her behavior toward the men she dated and married, as well as her own family. I just feel as though a lot was left out, and the book could have been better researched and more tightly written. But overall, an entertaining true crime book.



3. Always remember what you read is not always the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!



4. Terrific read, and researched in great detail - thank you Ms. Jones. The crime itself was horrific enough, but reading of her lifetime of terrorizing almost everyone she encountered is what is truly chilling.
   
   While I'm sure some people are simply born damaged, it seems that Della is a classic case of a pathological attachment disorder - losing her most emotionally important caretaker (in her case her father) in the critical 1-3 year old period, and left with a mother who was quite harsh. These children are forever locked in that infantile state - emotional vampires unable to empathize or care about any other person, filled with narcissistic rage and eternally trying to fill that emotional hole. Her endless avarice and demands, continual and often pointless lying, creation of a false, grandiose self, infantile, needy behavior, and violent, self-righteous rage towards anyone who denied her anything she wanted are textbook behaviors.
   
   If you find psychological insight in true crime books interesting, you will enjoy this book.



5. I was very disappointed in this book. The writing read very juvenile, as if a teenager wrote this book. Dare I say a teenager might have done a better job. The actual story was interesting although author seemed to portray all characters as highly unsophisticated and uncultured when I'm sure many of the actual characters were. It was very UNintelligently written and, all in all, a highly disappointing read. I was surprised to see the author was as accomplished as she was. After reading this book, I would have thought her a obscure author with little to no experience. This read worse than a debut from a new author. Just awful. I will hesitate to read anything else from Aphrodite Jones although, in fairness to her, it is possible this was just a "bad" project and all other works are fantastically written. It will take me awhile to determine if this is the case as I feel a bit "dumber" after reading this book.

5 comments about Ashes to Ashes.

1. This story is based on the horrible murder of 5 members of 1 family. Much of the story apparently is from the journal of the murdered mother Mary Coulson. Perhaps the thing about this book that drove me wild was the inconsistencies in referring to the black sheep son, Bob. He is called Coulson while the rest of the family members are called by their 1st names. Then at other times, he is called Bob. Yes, the author's bias is apparent from the start, but this book needed a stronger editor not only to help pull the story together, but to do some basic proof reading. I also wondered why Bob was seen coming out of his sister's bedroom in the early morning hours.



2. I cannot express how bad this book is. If I could rate it less than a star I would. I knew the people and was close to the case. This is a work of fiction with no regard as to how the deceased peole are being slandered or what effect it might have on those left behind.



3. I agree with all the other bad reviews of this book. It is well known that the author of this book is good friends with this "so called" favorite niece of Mary Coulson. This neice, Linda, never spent much time with the Coulson family & acting as if she was Mary Coulson's favorite niece is a farce. "Auntie Mary " indeed!!! The fact that this favorite niece would allow slander of the other children is outrageous. No child is perfect. They all disappoint their parents on occasion but to act as if they were all bad or awful for just being normal children is ridiculous! A third of the book discusses the courtship of Otis & Mary Coulson, their long extended background, etc. Nothing to do with the murder case itself. There are some photo's of the coulsons, the crime scene ect, but what's the purpose of the photo of Linda & her husband Tim? Why not picture's of the Mary's Parents or other relatives she speaks of? Seems Linda enjoys the attention in this case & is milking it for everything she can. She didn't know Bob, she barely new him & never spent much time with him. All of this information came either from the niece or straight from court transcripts. This author did no ivestigating of her own. Only what ever Linda told her. This so called favorite niece loves all the attention & will never get enough. What a joke this book is! It took me all of a day & a half to read this trash. I had to pick at least one star. If they had negatives, I'd pick -100.



4. First off, I had no previous knowledge of this crime, I decided to read this book because the back cover promised a "shocking diary" kept by Bob Coulsons adoptive mother amongst other things.
   Well guess what? The diary is mentioned in maybe 2 paragraphs in the whole book. You don't get any insight into the relationships of these people. You only get a quick rundown of the parents. There was a few minor "scandalous" behaviors, like the two sisters getting pregnant before marriage, but other than that, nothing.
   There was no in depth bio about who Bob Coulson was, nothing about his past, except that he was adopted at a young age. The only reason he killed his family was for the inheritance. I have no doubt that he did this awful crime but i think there was a lot more behind it. Why couldn't the author have dug a little deeper?
   The book was written horribly, at an extremely fast pace, and there were no "shocking photos".



5. Otis and Mary Coulsen were a delightful couple who complimented each other and truly loved each other. Since they were unable to have children, they adopted Sarah as a baby and decided to adopt a three year old Robin and four year old Bob. Robin and Bob's young mother had abandoned them to children's services in Corpus Christi, Texas because she wanted to satisfy her boyfriend whose family would not be able to handle a married mother of two. Even estranged, the couple who bore Robin and Bob divorced. Their father remained in Rhode Island where they were born. The young mother never really recovered from her decision. By then it was too late, Bob and Robin spent 8 months in a loving foster home before being adopted by Mary and Otis, both college graduates, and mature to handle the youngsters. Sadly, they would be their greatest challenge. The girls, Robin, and Sarah, had their own troubles including unplanned pregnancies. Sarah's baby boy was put up for adoption before her murder and Robin was expecting a girl with her husband Rick Wentworth. Every Friday night, the family would gather together and eat out or at home as a family ritual. On this Friday the 13th of November in 1992, Bob Coulsen had done the unthinkable. He had murdered not only his parents, his sisters, and brother-in-law for the inheritance of $600,000. It's unimaginable or unthinkable for such a crime in the first place. Then the house was set ablaze as if to destroy the evidence. It was only a coincidence that it happened on Friday the 13th as Jared, the unwilling accomplice, told authorities. He never imagined his idol would carry out such an act of violence. Bob Coulsen had his share of problems but Mary believed that their love could conquer all. She wanted a large family. I doubt that she ever really regreted the adoptions of Bob or Robin. After all, Robin and Sarah turned out fine despite their problems. Bob had problems from the first day. He never got the psychiatric treatment and it is doubtful that he would have changed. Bob wanted an easy life and never having to work again. He wanted the good life. It's just awful that he went to such attempts to get a meager inheritance. His adoptive parents loved him regardless of his mistakes and errors which he never returned his love and affection simply because he doesn't know how too. He killed his parents, his sisters, and his brother-in-law, and unborn niece without emotion. This book was written years ago and I don't know if he is still on death row.

No comments about Carabanchel: The Last Brit in Europe's Hellhole Prison.

5 comments about A Death in Texas: A Story of Race, Murder and a Small Town's Struggle for Redemption.

1. This should be read by all Americans. Racial hatred needs to be erased from our minds so it doesn't do to us what it did to these men. The book is ok - it would have been better had it not repeated itself over and over. I felt like I read the same book five times. Could have been much shorter.



2. I've known Shawn Berry all of my life as he is best friends with my cousin. We all grew up together going to the rodeos and watching Shawn bull-ride and seeing him at my cousins' daughters christening as he became her God-Father, I can't begin to explain how so many people look down on him for what happened. I have personally talked to Shawn and got his recollection of what happened that night and it seems as though no authors of books or producers/screen-writers of movies have. Shawn is a great guy and always will be. His fiance was one of his attorneys and she still stands by him that he will one day get to see their daughter grow up outside of the bars that he lives behind everyday. I just wanted everyone to know that Shawn did do wrong that night but not in the way everyone thinks. He literally DID have a gun to his head and was told he could die to. No one can say what they would have done in that situation. NO ONE. The Byrd family has visited Shawn in prison and he got down on his knees and begged forgiveness and they gave it to him. Shawn always gave James a ride home and was friends with him and his family. There are things about James Byrd that no one knows but I will not talk bad of the deceased. I just wanted people to know that things aren't always as they seem. Jasper is a small town and always will be in the backs of peoples minds in the US now but it's not as bad as Vidor.



3. 
   This is an excellent book and for a lot of reasons.I don't know if it won any awards or not ,but it is certainly good enough to become a lasting account of the racially inspired murder of James Byrd by dragging him on a chain behind a pick up truck.This happened in Jasper,Texas on June 7,1998.
   Dina has done an marvelous job of explaining the deep seated prejudices and injustices that created an enviroment for this evil action to occur.She has researched and shown the inner feelings and culture of all the people in this small town .Yes, there are good people, evil people and everything in between.
   She is a trained and experienced journalist and her skills are very evident throughout the book.She spent countless hours talking to many of the people of this town and she writes in a way that conveys their everyday and personal language.No doubt there are many other small towns in America as well as around the world where the hatred and injustice are just as bad.All one has to do is remember the three young men murdered and portrayed in "Mississippi Burning";and that is only one of many,many examples.Dina reminds me of those great authors that so well wrote about the South.Two that come to mind immediately are Erskine Caldwell and William Faulkner,and that is pretty fancy company to be in.Dina not only covers the characters involved but also describes what happened before and during the murder but also the charges,trials and convictions.On top of that she shows the effect these events had on the families involved,the legal and justice participants as well as the townspeople and others outside the community.
   Just look at some of these greatlines,sayings,descriptions,and these are only a sample of the many found throughout the book
   "If I owned Texas and hell,
   I'd rent out Texas and live in hell"
   -General P.H. Sherman
   "Death has a way of making even slow people hurry."
   "When the devil's loose,it doesn't matter who he catches."
   "This country boy's in trouble."
   "Hell yes,I shot him;I should have done it ten years ago."
   "A place near nowhere."
   "A town where people stopped just long enough to lick a postage
   stamp."
   "The closest jobs got further away."
   "Ain't nothing we can do."
   "If I'd have married one of their sisters,they would hang me
   so high my feet wouldn't touch the ground."
   "What's done in the dark comes to the light."
   "No battles are ever won by spectators."
   "Bill King was a series of sums that did not add up."
   "He said mixed couples should hang from the same tree."
   "Some people have crosses to bear,I have crosses to burn."
   "In the South,the past isn't dead,it's not even past."
   Man,talk about picturesque language.
   I tried to see what has transpired with the three convicted murderers on the web sites mentioned in the book,but without much success.If anyone knows their status,it would be helpful to include in a review.
   I can't imagine anyone doing a better book on this whole affair than what Dina Temple-Raston has given us. I'll be on the lookout for future books of hers.
   
   
   
   



4. I was disgusted by how this writer tried to make what was already horrid into something even worse by interviewing a few people and making what they said sound like it represented the entire town, county, and state. I'm a former newspaper editor and I was appalled by this book (and the other one, also). My mother was on the jury.



5. Having lived in the Jasper/Newton area during this time and knowing several of the "actors"(sheriff Rowles, Billy Ray Robinson, and Joe Sterling)I have long wanted to read this book and finally have taken the time to finish nearly 80% of it.
   
   The book, to those outside the area, is an awesome read. For us "locals" it pretty well tells the tale but, as others have pointed out, there were so many geographical and historical errors that are evidence that the book was either rushed to print or no one bothered doing any fact checking.
   
   As mentioned before the author has the 3 men headed on Highway 59 to Burkeville from Jasper when , in reality, it is state highway 63....also, when she states Bill King's girlfriend gave birth to his premature baby and it was in the intensive care unit at a Newton County Hospital....The only hospital in Newton County closed in the late 80s or early 90s and, even if it were open, they hadnt delivered babies for some years before that....as also mentioned Vidor was not named after King Vidor altho I guess that makes good copy to associate a KKK town with the director of the first all black movie production.
   
   There were also obvious misprints such as Joe Sterling becoming Joe Sperling for a whole page of dialogue before reverting back to Sterling...as said it probably doesnt bother someone from other areas but to us, who live here and lived through this, it smacks of ineptitude from someone having the credentials of the author.
   
   What the book did bring out was the awesome job Billy Rowles and others did keeping the peace. This was the summer the movie "A Time To Kill" came out on video and it mirrored a lot of what could have happened in Japser. I think it is to Sheriff Rowles credit that things never got out of hand and the people of Jasper and Jasper County should always remember his service.
   
   Overall, other than the few obvious mistakes, the book is a good read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone

5 comments about Shallow Grave in Trinity County.

1. This book is a well written documentary of a fourteen year old girl who was abducted and murdered on her way home from school in Oakland , California in the mid 1950's. It tells of the police investigation and eventual apprehension and trial of the man believed to have been her killer.
   
   The time, place and people in this true story all relate to my experience at that time period when I was living in Berkeley. Strange to say but even after reading the book, I don't remember reading or knowing about the event. I found the story facinating, especially the careflly related investigation and the trial. I was amazed at how the evidence was analized with the tools of the time to make a case against the suspect.
   
   My recommendation is to read the book. It will make you think and wonder about the participants and their motives for a long time.
   
   Jan M.
   Now living in Trinity County



2. I read Farrell's "Swift Justice" a few years ago, and it haunted me for a long time afterward. When I came across this book, I expected that I would get just as involved with it, and I did. Farrell has a way of including details in a story that make it fascinating, even if you know the outcome (and I agree with the other reviewers who mentioned the give-away photo section). Some of the most interesting aspects of this book involve minor characters, such as the suspect who fears his co-workers' "sex vibrations", the mysterious eyewitness "Melody", and the teenage girl who became obsessed with the accused murderer. These people's own words, which Farrell diligently researched and quoted, give the reader a direct window onto the time period. The book is also full of the kind of scientific information that fans of CSI will enjoy.
   
   [WARNING--SPOILERS FOLLOW] The kidnapping and murder described in the book are so horrible, that I was hoping for the kind of cathartic closure you might get from watching a killer convicted on TV. But Farrell doesn't let the reader off so easy. Though there was ample physical evidence pointing to Barton Abbot, a few little loose threads will leave me forever wondering. And of course, the eternal question of why anyone would commit such a crime is not answered.
   
   As far as the victim's family goes, they are not painted as the sainted martyrs another reviewer complained about. In fact, one of the saddest aspects of the book for me was the parents' refusal to tell their other children what really happened to their sister. "We don't talk about it," the victim's mother said. Years later, her son admitted to Farrell the pain the situation caused him.
   
   Farrell shows how notorious crimes can drag down innocent bystanders: witnesses lost their livelihoods; a mother had to move out of state and change her child's name.
   
   All in all, Farrell has written a book that is not only a gripping true-crime story, but a valuable social history.



3. Harry Farrell's work is not only riveting, it is so well written it takes you to the time and place of the crime and its aftermath. Truly horrifying and disturbing and especially so to me as I grew up in the same general area where Stephanie Bryan was kidnapped. A lot of the landmarks and crime scenes in the book are very familiar to me as I used to work in Berkeley and drove the Tunnel Road and Ashby Avenue daily. It brought the horror home for me. The details of Stephanie's kidnap, sexual assault, and cruel, brutal, murder are heart wrenching and sad. This sweet girl was a highly intelligent honor student who avidly enjoyed reading and loved animals. I was truly aggrieved that such a beautiful human being had to die because of the despicable actions of a brutal sociopath who had no feelings or conscience. Burton Abbott's guilt is readily apparent to me and Mr. Farrell clearly and methodically illustrates this.



4. Harry Farrell, the author of SHALLOW GRAVE IN TRINITY COUNTY, is an excellent writer. This is the first book of his I've read, and he writes it as a journalist/newspaper reporter without injecting his personal opinions, always a positive in my view. Farrell's research is exhaustive and meticulous, and the material resulting from that research is presented coherently, intelligently, and highly professionally.
   SHALLOW GRAVE is the story of the kidnapping and murder in 1955 of a 14 year old girl. The book is basically formatted in three sections: the description of the crime, the police investigation, and the trial. While I often find the courtroom/trial sections of true crime books to be opportunities for uninterested writers to pad their books with filler, I can happily report that Farrell is not guilty of this. He is clearly interested enough in his book that his report of the trial is as well written as the rest of the book.
   However, while almost necessarily the case, the account of the trial repeats a lot of the information reported in the section on the police investigation, as the witnesses testify as to the same info. which Farrell has already presented in the section concerning the investigation.
   This can get tedious, though it is certainly not a deal-breaker. I feel that this section would work better as a series of daily newspaper reports, which of course at the time it was, rather than having it consolidated into a section of a book.
   The other disappointment I felt with SHALLOW GRAVE is that, while there was some, there was not ultimately not enough discussion of of the making of the personality of the sociopath Burton Abbott. However, I believe Farrell probably did the best he could with what he had, given that the case was about 45 years old when the book was written.
   Another positive I should mention is that the pictures in the book are very good, and that they - along with both Farrell's fine descriptions of the U.S. of the 1950's and his ear for the speech of the time - provide a vivid and fascinating backdrop for the book.
   I will certainly be checking out other of Harry Farrell's books.



5. Author Harry Farrell is an excellent historian, archivist and writer whose familiarity with California's bay area shines in one of the first widely publicized kidnapping/murder of a young girl. Gone missing on her walk home from school, 14-year old Stephanie Bryant's body is found, not by law enforcement or the FBI, but by two reporters from the San Francisco Examiner.
   
   The young girl was taken on April 28, 1955 and Burton Abbott, convicted of her murder, was put to death on March 15, 1957, less then two years after her abduction. A stark contrast to 1993's Richard Allen Davis, the convicted murderer of Polly Klaas who remains on California's death row today.
   
   Farrell expertly sketches the climate of pre-discovery, pre-Miranda justice. He also hauntingly underwrites the conclusion that paints Abbott the killer with enough doubt that the reader is left with questions about whether justice was truly served in the 1950's.
   
   All in all, an excellent read, leaving only picky legal buffs, like this reader, wanting more details about the intricacies of the trial.

2 comments about The Woodchipper Murder.

1. To let this book go without a review would have been a "true crime" and possibly caused many people to pass up "one great read". It's the story of a beautiful woman, and mother of two who suddenly disappears. Not a speck of evidence to be found. No leads for the police to follow. And if not for her loving friends, no one would have ever looked beyond the surface. Mr. Herzog's easy reading, enjoyable writing style and attention to detail gives you a clear picture of exactly what is taking place. Each page holds intriguing information about an unbelievable crime committed by an unbelievably arrogant criminal, who almost got away with it. This is one of those "tattered" books on the shelf that is taken back down and re-read every couple of years. It will keep you just as fascinated with every read. A definite "must have" for a true crime buff.



2. probably one of the best true crime novel I ever read. definitely purchase this book and I promise you will not be sorry.

2 comments about Famous Trials.

1. The thrill of these cases must lie in the telling, because I can see now that some of them are unutterable dull when told so flatly. The case of Alma Rattenbury, the most poignant of all classic murder cases, and one which was treated with great depth and honesty in Terrence Rattigan's late play CAUSE CELEBRE, is here just another boring story of adultery and murder, not even worthy of a Lifetime Channel for Women miniseries. F. Tennyson Jesse is better at telling the story of Madeline Smith, and the man who drowned all his brides and inspired the Chaplin film MONSIEUR VERDOUX gets an elegant summing up by Eric Watson, a writer new to me.
   
   Crime is a funny thing and I suppose they asked John Mortimer to edit (or "select") this volume because of his reputation for writing the famous Rumpole books and his expertise at the law. He is one of the world's most overrated writers so he doesn't really add anything to the book, just gets his name printed in huge letters much bigger than those of the real editors. One of the ironies of today's push for big marketing is that the people who really do the work are often ignored.



2. John Mortimer selected the materials for this book. The introduction gives an excellent summary of all the pieces included.

5 comments about Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie: A True Tale of Love and the Vig.

1. I really liked this book! I thought it was a refreshing and entertaining look at how are lives don't always end up as we had planned. There are some unresolved issues, but perhaps that makes the book all the more realistic. A movie version of this book would do very well.



2. I felt like I was growing up with Peter as he faced the consequences of his decisions. Looking forward to his next one.



3. Despite the subtitle ("A True Tale of Love and the Vig") I was plagued throughout my reading of this semi-confession of a former Ivy-leaguer's plummet into the world of bookmaking by a certain dubiousness. Alson's story is written in a kind of flippantly open manner that undermines the believability of his insider's story. Don't get me wrong, it's very entertaining and all, but his coyness about just how "connected" the small-time operation he was a part of was came across as rather disingenuous to me. While his confusion and despair about figuring out what he should be doing with his overeducated self hit the right notes, the subplot of the long distance sort of relationship was often more annoying than interesting. Still, not a bad little peek into bookmaking.



4. I have yet to understand why book making is illegal in most states. Gambling is everywhere now. I happen to live in Iowa and am currently surrounded by no less than four casinos. Wall Street itself has become nothing if not Las Vegas East in how it conducts it's business. So why is book making still illegal? Peter Alson doesn't attempt to answer these questions, though I couldn't help but think about them as I was reading his book. I had hoped to get the juicy underworld stories of mob boys in $500 track suits sending out some thug to break the leg of a dead beat, but that's not what happened. I also thought it might be about some numbers genius at Princeton who ran a book making operation out of his dorm room; no, nothing like that either. Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie: A True Tale of Love and the Vig is surprisingly uneventful.
   
   Peter Alson writes of his own experience as an ex-ivy league college student who then in his 30's was unable to find a job or maintain a solid relationship. In an act of desperation and/or curiosity he ends up working for a bookie. The job takes some training but Peter is soon up and running, however any signs of mob glamour or big money are hard to see. As the lowest guy on the totem pole, Peter makes relativity little at first, to get more money he has to bring in new clients. If one of Peter's clients can't pay, it's Pete who has to cover for them. All the while Pete, his fellow co-workers, and his bosses constantly flirt with paranoia, "Are the cops on to us?" "Are we stepping on some gangs toes for operating out of their territory?". In other words, like most crime in this country, it's surprisingly dull with moments of sheer panic.
   
   That's not so say that Alson's read is slow, in fact it's quite fluid. He captures a world that flirts with high end crime and is built on massive deception. Alson never finds out if he works for the mob or not and we get the impression that not even his bosses know all the details. Such insights, all be it slightly confusing, are refreshing. His writing style is broken into dozens of brief chapters that showcase a sort of daily diary feel. It makes the book quick to read and doesn't allow the author to linger too long on an idea or event. However I found little interest in his love life which ends up being a good portion of the book. I felt that this story line, though it showed great insight in the author personal world, didn't have the payoff in the end to justify the many chapters devoted to it.



5. so they get busted and pat's supposedly gone by that time - then they're sitting in jail, thinking they should give the cops pat's name and address. then, later on in jail, pat is now there - tied up with the whole crew! what's the deal? other than that, a good read