TOUGH JEWS Fathers, Sons and Gangster Dreams By Rich Cohen A Book Review

A gangster enthusiasts must read. Tough Jews is a classic gangster story.

Mainly concentrating on Jewish gangsters, such as Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein, Kid Twist and dozens more. Cohen tells a unique story about these men, their crimes, their growth and, for most of them, their demise and ultimate ruin. He writes about their accomplishments, their failures and just about everything else in between. 

He gives the reader so much history and information about Jewish gangsters we know and others we may never have heard of. Any gangster buff would definitely enjoy this book. Cohen mentions a gangster known as Red Levine, an Orthodox Jew, a killer of Murder Inc. A man who would not kill on the Sabbath. 

Cohen  filled Tough Jews with this type of information. If you want to question his accuracy and historic knowledge, then you better do your homework because Rich Cohen spent years doing interviews and research for his book. It is indeed a page turner because I could not wait to find out what was on the next page. 

Written like a story, not just a biography. Tough Jews is an easy read and the words flow well together. The author's style of writing holds your attention and his flow well together. His prose is clear and to the point. However, there are some instances where the writer goes on a bit and adds too much unnecessary words which can be described as “Fluff.” 

He drags on now and then and over does some of the description and that being said anyone whose interests focus on the gangster life; this book is for them. Thousands, maybe even millions of readers around the world would enjoy works such as Tough Jews. 

This my second time reading it and I always learn something new. Cohen has several other books, The Avengers: A Jewish War Story, and another is Lake Effect. 

If they are as entertaining as this one, then you would not waste your time exploring his other books. The most interesting sections of the book for me were the details he shares about Murder Inc. 

Overall, this is an excellent choice. TJ is entertaining and completely informative.

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