Review of "Paddy Whacked"
English, T. J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish-American Gangster. New York: Regan, 2006, 442 p.p
Throughout his career T.J English has written five books and a multitude of articles for the LA Times, The New York Times, Playboy, and a variety of other magazines and newspapers. All of his books (The Westies, Born to Kill, Havana Nocturne, and The Savage City) and articles cover some aspect of the criminal world, whether it be the criminal themselves, or the act that they carry out. T.J English was awarded the New York Press Club Award for Best Crime Reporting back in 2010 and had already written two books about organized crime which shows that he is more than qualified to write a book about Irish American Gangsters as a whole. Not only would Paddy Whacked succeed in showing the big picture of gangsterism, as it seems English hoped, but it would also become the basis for a documentary shown the History channel in 2006 and make the New York Times Extended Best Seller list. Paddy Whacked manages to be intriguing as well as educational as it interweaves multiple stories involving over 200 different people ranging from famous gangsters, to the men who acted behind the scenes. These stories take place in America’s six most dangerous cities over the timespan of almost two centuries (1849-2000).
Irish American gangsters have been written about a lot in the past, but the way that English wrote it set him aside from other authors. One of the main differences between English and other authors is that he had a broad scope that covered several different people, places, and time periods. A majority of the books written about the Irish American gangster only focus on one person, place, or time period. Instead of just focusing on a single mobster/gangster, as many authors tend to do, English included stories about corrupt government officials as well which shows both sides of the partnership necessary to the success of a gang. Normally a book is written in a
Throughout his career T.J English has written five books and a multitude of articles for the LA Times, The New York Times, Playboy, and a variety of other magazines and newspapers. All of his books (The Westies, Born to Kill, Havana Nocturne, and The Savage City) and articles cover some aspect of the criminal world, whether it be the criminal themselves, or the act that they carry out. T.J English was awarded the New York Press Club Award for Best Crime Reporting back in 2010 and had already written two books about organized crime which shows that he is more than qualified to write a book about Irish American Gangsters as a whole. Not only would Paddy Whacked succeed in showing the big picture of gangsterism, as it seems English hoped, but it would also become the basis for a documentary shown the History channel in 2006 and make the New York Times Extended Best Seller list. Paddy Whacked manages to be intriguing as well as educational as it interweaves multiple stories involving over 200 different people ranging from famous gangsters, to the men who acted behind the scenes. These stories take place in America’s six most dangerous cities over the timespan of almost two centuries (1849-2000).
Irish American gangsters have been written about a lot in the past, but the way that English wrote it set him aside from other authors. One of the main differences between English and other authors is that he had a broad scope that covered several different people, places, and time periods. A majority of the books written about the Irish American gangster only focus on one person, place, or time period. Instead of just focusing on a single mobster/gangster, as many authors tend to do, English included stories about corrupt government officials as well which shows both sides of the partnership necessary to the success of a gang. Normally a book is written in a
Citations: "T.J. English Online." T.J. English Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2013. http://www.tj-english.com/index.php English, T. J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish-American Gangster. New York: Regan, 2006. Print.