" Billy, 'a capable boy', tells his own tale of fateful adventures in pages peopled with such personalities as the financial genius Abbadabba Berman, who invents a way to change the days winning number at the last minute, the fastidious Irving, who mixes drinks with the same precision as he disposes of dead men; the lovely Miss Lola Miss Drew, who dresses herself in cream and aqua to runaway with the killer of her dreams; and the one-time Bronx kid Arthur Flegenheimer, known by the world as Dutch Schultz...."
This is my favourite of Doctorow's books, which stands up well to a re-read. The hero 15 year old Billy narrates all his adventures in an easy to read style giving us a view into post repeal New York, with it's corruption and quest for the dollar. A time where gangsters are not only admired but needed to give the people the vice they crave.
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