Book Review

American Gangster (2007)

Mark Jacobson

Reviewed by Josh Rottenberg | Oct 19, 2007

Josh Rottenberg

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EW's GRADE

A-

Details Release Date: Oct 10, 2007; Writer: Mark Jacobson; Genres: Media and Journalism, Nonfiction; Publisher: Grove Press

NEW YORK STORIES American Gangster compiles the article that inspired the upcoming Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe movie, and much more from journalist Mark Jacobson

The highlight of magazine journalist Mark Jacobson's collection is the title piece, a profile of '70s Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas that inspired the Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe film. That riveting account of Lucas' rise and fall is reason enough to pick up American Gangster, but Jacobson's other stories, spanning 30 years of NYC history, offer gripping reading as well. Whether covering the high life or lowlifes, Jacobson boasts a novelistic eye and muscular prose in the tradition of urban chroniclers like Joseph Mitchell, A.J. Liebling, and Pete Hamill. A-

Originally posted Oct 19, 2007 Published in issue #961 Oct 26, 2007 Order article reprints

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