Bugsy Siegel The dark side of the American dream

An approachable, well-researched biography of the turbulent, passionate life of Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel, this sympathetic depiction of one of most notorious members of the Jewish underworld of the 1920s through the1940s by Shnayerson, (contributing editor, Vanity Fair) reads like an adventure tale of derring-do. The book includes chronological and extensive depictions of Siegel's family background and his seemingly natural progression into underworld lawbreaking and mob hierarchy, including his friendships and associations with gangsters such as Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano. The last half focuses on Siegel's effort to make the Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas into a money-making destination for stars and gamblers. Describing his fraught relationship with Billy Wilkerson, the original owner of the Flamingo property, Shnayerson depicts Siegel's initial role as supportive: "Though he might be a hinderance, Siegel did have contacts that could be of help in rounding up scarce postwar construction materials. He made calls to Hollywood heavyweights and got them to part with stage set supplies ... he had help from Nevada senator Pat McCarran who 'reprioritized' the state's building needs" (pp. 115--116). Twenty pages of notes ensure the thoroughness of Shnayerson's depiction of this fascinating character. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates. --Ann Lieberman Colgan, West Chester University of Pennsylvania

The gangland father of Las Vegas comes in for a fresh appraisal. Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (1906-1947) is the first gangster to be included in the Jewish Lives series, now more than 50 titles strong. As Vanity Fair contributing editor Shnayerson notes, Siegel had the "dubious distinction" of representing four broad classes of criminality: bootlegger, racketeer, gambler, and murderer. His career began in the tenements of New York, where some of the children of immigrant Jews pulled away from traditions and formed gangs. Siegel was an enforcer, shaking down street vendors for protection money. As he entered adulthood, he and fellow kid gangster Meyer Lansky aligned with Sicilian immigrant Lucky Luciano to form an underworld army. "The Syndicate, as it became known," writes the author, "would be American in the truest sense: an amalgam of immigrants making their way in the New World," helmed and staffed by people practicing capitalism in its purest form. Smart and good looking, Siegel took his criminal gains to Hollywood, becoming a celebrity, "Gatsby with a penchant to kill." He also had a grand vision: Jews were frozen out of Reno, where gambling was legal, but the Las Vegas of the 1930s was wide open, and he foresaw a time when casinos on the Monte Carlo model would lure visitors from all over the world. Building one such casino, the Flamingo, eventually brought him afoul of Luciano and the Syndicate, for construction costs ballooned, with much of the difference skimmed. Even when the Flamingo began to turn a profit thanks to busy tables and acts like Lena Horne and the Andrews Sisters, the heat didn't get turned down. Siegel was infamously gunned down at home. The author's theory about the killer's identity is novel but perfectly plausible--and in any event, "Ben Siegel's imprint on Vegas grows with each next brand-new super resort." A highly readable, fast-moving contribution to the annals of 20th-century organized crime. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.