Joe Kraus

11.4.19

Review to come shortly.

11.5.19

Um.... for the intro see my reply to Joe’s comment, which is basically “Um, this book is like HAROLD BLOOM ON THE BRONX BOMBERS.” Which will make more sense if you read my reply.

So, in the interests of full disclosure, I am Goodreads friends with Joe and have exchanged a few messages with him. But, of course, who cares?

I decided to read the book because I have had a longtime interest in the Jewish mafia. At least I thought I did. I When I say show more “passion project” below, I mean it. I saw this afternoon that Joe was quoted as a member of the Chicago Historical Society in a VANITY FAIR article from 1997 (which I read at the time) about Sidney Korshak. Joe is by vocation a university English professor...

For what it’s worth, one reason I had an interest in the Jewish mafia was that a member of our family synagogue was an incredibly charming man who was affiliated with the mafia named Myron Sugerman. I am not speculating about Myron’s vocation. He wrote a book entitled [b: The Chronicles of the Last Jewish Gangster|36539314|The Chronicles of The Last Jewish Gangster From Meyer to Myron|Myron Sugerman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509883833l/36539314._SY75_.jpg|58267891].

Of course Joe attended a talk by Myron about his book and spoke to him afterwards... show less