Review: Criminally entertaining
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 31, 2012
This much we know is true: in the spring of 1929, Al Capone left Chicago not long after the Valentine's Day Massacre, showed up in Atlantic City for meetings and recreation, did a little conspiring with fellow thugs from the Windy City, and soon thereafter gave himself up to the cops in Philadelphia on a minor gun charge. But in the retelling, this Atlantic City summit conference has been described as the Mob equivalent of the Paris Peace talks, with rival factions from around the country making nice, territories divided for illegal pursuits, and bad guys actually being wheeled around Atlantic City in rolling chairs like old folks at a nursing home. Who's telling the truth about this foundational event of American criminal history? With Mob Fest '29,  Bill Tonelli has written a true-crime classic about the making of true-crime classics. He tells more stories than a cornered gangster on the witness stand, in the process revealing the secret motivation at the heart of nearly every good gangland story. Crooks, cops, and journalists conspire in making up the best tale for sale. What goon doesn't one day want to see his exploits commemorated on the sliver screen? Written with muckraking verve, wise guy prose, and an undying appreciation for bad behavior, Bill Tonelli's Mob Fest '29 is a major contribution to the literature of American crime.