Crime & the Arts: The Crime Genre in Literature & Film - Page 2

All true crime begins and ends with one book:

The Westies by T.J. English

from there you'll start to get hooked with the mob true crime genre, so follow up with Paddywhacked and Havana Nocturne, also by TJ English.

go back to the grandfathers of the genre, Honor Thy Father by Gay Talese, The Grim Reapers by Ed Reid, and the Silent Syndicate by Hank Messick.

Murder Machine by Jerry Capeci, The Origin of Organized Crime in America by David Critchley, and the Five Families by Selwynn Raab to round out NYC.

Pick up Operation Family Secrets by Scott Burnstein (not Sam Giancane, whose name is listed as the primary author but contributed dick to the book), The Outfit by Gus Russo, The Hammer and the Machine by Frank Hayde, and start realizing the Mafia is more than NYC. Follow that up with books about the Denver, Detroit, St. Louis, Tampa, and New Orleans crime families. I'd name some, but it'd be uncouth of me.

And in a nod to the news, pick up Black Mass about Whitey Bulger and any book by George Anastasia about Philly (where boss Uncle Joe Ligambi was just indicted).

Goodfellas
The Long Good Friday
Friends of Eddie Coyle
Donnie Brasco

Blood and Honor by Anastasia is the definitive book on the Scarfo-era Philly mob. The Last Godfather about Joey Massino is a good insight into the more recent doings of the Bonanno family. I heard the Sixth Family about the Rizzutos in Montreal is really good as well.

the cover was creased....

the best movie you will see sean penn in....

Love and Death in the American Novel.

It will take you where you want to go.

My absolute favourite novel is Down There/Shoot the Piano Player by David Goodis. Later made into a movie by Truffaut which is completely awesome.

EDIT - Also, the Parker series of books by Richard Stark/Donald Westlake. The movies made from his books are great. All of them.

Love this thread - right in my wheelhouse.

True Crime

Books

Mindhunter by John Douglas. He pioneered criminal profiling and is the inspiration for Scott Glenn's character in Silence of the Lambs. He recounts his cases - grisly, fascinating.

The Westies - Already mentioned, but worth supporting again.

The Snakehead by Patrick Keefe. All about Sister Ping, one of the biggest human smugglers in US history, operated out of Manhattan's Chinatown. Incredible, in some ways for how reasonable she seemed.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Shocked nobody has mentioned it. An American classic, even if you're not specifically a fan of true crime.

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. Yes, that David Simon - he spent a year with the murder police in Baltimore. Inspiration for Homicide: Life on the Streets.

Movies

Paradise Lost. About the West Memphis Three who were convicted of killing two small boys in Arkansas, but serious doubts about their guilt.

The Thin Blue Line. Errol Morris' classic about a murdered policeman in Texas in 1976

Cocaine Cowboys. About the rise of drug violence in Miami in the 1980s. Makes Scarface seem believable.

TV

The First 48. On A&E, they follow the first 48 hours of real homicide investigation. Absolutely fascinating - the homicide detectives are everything you hope they would be and more. Shocking in how much handguns escalate stupid arguments to murder.

American Gangster. I think it's on BET, they profile local gangster legends. I can't say much for the production, but the stories and these characters are amazing. Like Kenny "Supreme" McGriff whose posse assassinated a police officer in New York or the Jamaican Shower Posse, so named because they would shower bullets on large groups of people and yell "Showa!"


I'll save the Fiction for part 2.

James Ellroy, if it's not already a given.

Double down on that. An amazing, underrated , gangster movie.