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Gangsters of Harlem
- The Gritty Underworld of New York City's Most Famous Neighborhood
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, True Crime
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Very Good
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Summary
Author Ron Chepesiuk chronicles the little known history of organized crime in Harlem.
African American organized crime has had as significant an impact on its constituent community as Italian, Jewish, and Irish organized crime has had on theirs. Gangsters are every bit as colorful, intriguing, and powerful as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and have a fascinating history in gambling, prostitution, and drug dealing. In the late 1800s, Harlem became a highly fashionable neighborhood.
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What listeners say about Gangsters of Harlem
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Meyer Rosenbloom
- 18-10-13
weak --reader is terrible!
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
total waste of time and credit
What was most disappointing about Ron Chepesiuk’s story?
the writing was mediocre at best but the narration was really poor -- the reader couldnt pronounce some of the most basic historical crime names
was embarrassing to hear -- The narration clearly wasn't edited
How did the narrator detract from the book?
big time
Could you see Gangsters of Harlem being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
no
Any additional comments?
many better options
4 people found this helpful
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- Jeff
- 04-03-13
don't bother
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Dullsville. Very abreviate stories and no real conection to the characters is formed. The narrator mispronounces words. No sense of neigborhood culture emerges.
3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 25-02-19
great book loved all the great information
i loved it learned alot about African american gangsters i didn't know about. Only complaint is the reader couldn't pronounce the mobsters last names right
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- Cynthia Tate
- 14-09-18
Good book
I never realized how many gangsters were in harlem. Great book to read abo it the underworld
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- Anonymous User
- 08-08-18
Great untold history
in addition to telling some fascinating stories about Harlem gangsters the book also shares a lot of interesting and fascinating history of Harlem as well over the various decades this book is a must-read
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- foster madonna
- 02-02-17
Excellent Book
I grew up in Harlem in the early 60's and have had a lot of contact with most of the characters via family members associated with them and seeing them on the streets.
It truly is sad what men like these men have done to the community they lived in, it is even worse what life choices the left for there children.
Many innocent people died due to their greed they never deserved any breaks.
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- Amazon Customer
- 22-10-16
excellent
a must read for any historian, screen writer, actor, playwright, especially New Yorker who grew up fdom 70's to the 90's.
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- Susie
- 28-11-12
True Crime Fans Will Eat This Up
I fell in love with the mobsters in Gangsters of Harlem just as many people have with the characters in The Wire or The Sopranos.
Despite their shady business, it was easy—disturbingly so—to become invested in these mobsters. One detail that's going to stick with me for a long time is Chepesiuk's description of the "Murder Stables," owned by Ignazio Lupo of the Morello Gang, where hundreds of his rivals were tortured and murdered in the early 1900s.
In a Wire-esque finale, Chepesiuk looks at the involvement of the NYPD with organized crime. If your cup of tea includes a dash of lethal bathtub gin, this is your hot toddy.
1 person found this helpful