Brownsville [Hardcover]

Neil Kleid (Author), Jake Allen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2006

In the 1930`s, life in Brooklyn was murder.

"Jewish gangster" isn`t a term you hear much in post-Holocaust society... but back when the Dodgers played in the East and licorice cost a penny a bag, Brooklyn corners were lousy with semitic young toughs looking for adventure and excitement - none more so than in Brownsville.

Follow the intertwined lives of Allie Tanennbaum, Abe Reles and scores of hoods organized by Louis Lepke Buchalter into the deadliest hit operation in Mafia history, "Murder, Inc.", as they escape the mean streets and lonely tenements of East New York., make themselves into the most dangerous men in America, only to eventually send their best friends and closest allies up the river.

Written by Xeric Award winner Neil Kleid.

"The events and players come to life in the stark images in this historical overview." -VOYA

"Smart, absorbing." -Ray Olson, Booklist

"Beautifully moody evocation of a bygone Brooklyn inhabited by Jewish gangsters, Brownsville follows the career of some of the biggest names in the hoodlum business. A fine addition to the archive." -Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A beautifully moody evocation of a bygone Brooklyn inhabited by Jewish gangsters, Brownsville follows the career of some of the biggest names in the hoodlum business. The authors trace the way in which a young boy might be seduced by the wrong side through relating the story of Allie Tannenbaum, who first meets the wiseguys on the grounds of his own father's place in the Catskills. Later, the action moves to the Lower East Side, where Allie is an older man, well ensconced in the shadow world of the men who make up Murder Inc.: Louis Lepke Buchalter, Abe Reles, the Shapiro brothers, Dutch Schultz—all wind through this tale of 1930s corruption. Tires are slashed, guns are hidden in toilet tanks, rapes and murders and retaliatory hits are carried out. One difficulty is that there are few sympathetic characters, other than Allie's somewhat bewildered father, who doesn't love his son's choice of career. At times, the story's convolutions can be tough to follow; along with the various shifting loyalties, Allen's lush black ink, while atmospheric, can make different characters look confusingly similar. Nonetheless, the work is a fine addition to the archive of Brooklyn's once outlaw world. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Set in Brooklyn during the height of Prohibition, this atmospheric novel focuses on the infamous Jewish gangsters known as Murder, Inc.: Louis Lepke Buchalter, Abe Reles, Dutch Schultz, and the Shapiro brothers. It's a tale of power, murder, and corruption as seen through the eyes of Allie Tannenbaum, beginning in the 1920s when he is still a teenager and continuing through the mid-1950s. This coming-of-age story provides readers with a powerful glimpse into the brutal and violent world of the Mafia, a world with few sympathetic characters. Allen's heavily shadowed, black-and-white illustrations are effective in creating a film-noir-style atmosphere, but his depiction of individual characters often lacks distinction. This problem, combined with a convoluted subplot about the shifting loyalties among the bad guys, often makes this story hard to follow. Still, it will appeal to fans of crime fiction and Prohibition-era history buffs and is a good choice for large collections.–Philip Charles Crawford, Essex High School, Essex Junction, VT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 205 pages
• Publisher: ComicsLit (April 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561634581
• ISBN-13: 978-1561634583
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,895,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Xeric-Award winning cartoonist Neil Kleid authored Ninety Candles, a graphic novella about life, death, legacy and comics; Brownsville, a graphic novel about the Jewish mafia, and The Big Kahn, a drama about a family secret so well-hidden, even the family didn't discover it until it was too late. Neil has written for Marvel and Image Comics, DC Comics, Shadowline, NBM, Dark Horse Comics, Slave Labor Graphics, Random House and Puffin Graphics. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and son, working on two graphic novels, several comic book series, a novel and no sleep. Pray for him at www.rantcomics.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Familiar but Confusing Territory, February 22, 2007

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brownsville (Paperback)

Spanning the mid-1920s to mid-1940s, this tale of a young Jewish boy's attraction to New York's Jewish mafia runs a fairly familiar course without adding much to the genre. Starting in the Catskills, the story moves through the well-traveled streets of Brooklyn and the Lower East Side, as Allie Tannenbaum is drawn into the gangster life. The story is effective at showing how the Jewish gangsters, collectively famous under the name "Murder, Inc." , offered a seductively empowering alternative to victimhood for young Jewish kids. Unfortunately, the story quickly gets bogged down in the convoluted turf wars between the various branches of Jewish mobsters. Loyalties lurch this way and that, and Kleid struggles to depict these twists and turns -- which grow especially complex once the cops start to shut everyone down -- within the limited framework of the graphic form. The writing isn't helped by the artwork, which, while very strong when portraying architecture and interiors, utterly fails when it comes to faces, as the various characters blend together. Ultimately, it's hard to recommend this book when there are so many better non-graphic ones covering the same subject matter (all listed in a nice bibliography at the back), such as Rich Cohen's Tough Jews, and E.L. Doctorow's novel Billy Bathgate -- plus all the films depicting that time and place.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A realistic story of life in a bygone era, May 27, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brownsville (Hardcover)

Set in the 1930s in Brooklyn is a graphic novel featuring something different: the story of Jewish gangsters, run by an organized mob. Author Neil Kleid has always been interested in organized crime, but he wished his graphic novel to be set in the history of the Mafia. His research led to the insights on the Jewish Mob - and here result in a realistic story of life in a bygone era.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch