num_pages: 336
description: In 1930's New York, Billy Bathgate, a fifteen-year-old highschool dropout, has captured the attention of infamous gangster Dutch Schultz, who lures the boy into his world of racketeering. The product of an East Bronx upbringing by his half-crazy Irish Catholic mother, after his Jewish father left them long ago, Billy is captivated by the world of money, sex, and high society the charismatic Schultz has to offer. But it is also a world of extortion, brutality, and murder, where Billy finds himself involved in a dangerous affair with Schultz's girlfriend. Relive this story through the title character's driving narrative, a child's thoughts and feelings filtered through the sensibilities of an adult, and the result is E.L. Doctorow's most convincing and appealing portrayal of a young boy's life. Converging mythology and history, one of America's most admired authors has captured the romance of gangsters and criminal enterprise that continues to fascinate the American psyche today.
language: English
title: Billy Bathgate: A Novel
titlecomplete: Billy Bathgate: A Novel
genres: Fiction, Historical, Literary Fiction, American, Literature, Classics, Novels, New York, Historical Fiction, Crime
ratings_count: 7257
places: Bronx, New York City, New York, New York City, New York
awards: awardedAt: 631180800000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 631180800000
name: PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, awardedAt: 631180800000
name: William Dean Howells Medal, awardedAt: 599644800000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 599644800000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Fiction
publisher: Perennial