Johnnie D : The Story of John Dillinger [Hardcover]

Arthur Winfield Knight (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2000

John Dillinger's reign as Public Enemy No. 1 began in the summer of 1933, when he left the Commercial Bank of Daleville, Indiana, with $3,500 and a diamond ring belonging to the bank president's daughter. It was the depth of the Depression. Banks were closing everywhere, and millions of Americans were losing their life savings. To them, Dillinger's act made him a sort of hero, even a modern-day Robin Hood. Within the next year, he would go on to rob ten banks and break out of two jails, one of them theoretically "escape-proof...Many a man fell on both sides in the effort to capture-and keep imprisoned-the incorrigible Johnnie D."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a grand array of voices, some 30 in all, Knight (The Secret Life of Jesse James) chronicles the final year in the life of Public Enemy #1 John Dillinger, gangster, bank robber and American folk hero. Dillinger, various devoted female allies, members of his gang (George "Baby Face" Nelson), Harry Pierpont, and family and friends who knew Dillinger before he became notorious give their alternating viewpoints. The narrative begins in the summer of 1933, when Dillinger, just out of prison after serving time for a bungled mugging, robs his first bank. The Great Depression is at its deepest and America's bankers are seizing homes and farms at an alarming rate, with little sympathy for those financially ruined. Dillinger, with his gallant, charming style, cuts a Robin Hood-like figure, condemning the ways the rich prey on the poor. He is portrayed as compassionate, good-hearted, kind to his family, generous and loving to his women friends and always ready to share his lot with those less fortunate. His companions Nelson and Pierpont, on the other hand, are depicted as cold-blooded killers. Dillinger robs 10 banks in all and makes daring escapes from two jails. The FBI bumble in their pursuit, and manage to kill several innocent people before 20 agents gun down the outlaw as he emerges from a Chicago theater. An illegal immigrant from Romania named Anna Sage, who operates a brothel, is the infamous Lady in Red who turns the outlaw in with hopes of having her deportation order quashed. Vivid voices illuminate the settings and time period as well as the interior lives of the characters, and Dillinger's exploits are deftly paced in alternately hard-boiled and lyrical prose. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In this imaginative novel, Knight retells the last year in the life of John Dillinger, the famous bank robber. Knight writes the novel from the points of view of Dillinger contemporaries to convey the casual violence of the robberies and the relentless pursuit by police and the FBI. Knight also recalls Depression-era poverty and the social inequities of the time that caused many to view Dillinger as a folk hero, robbing banks that were foreclosing on farmers and homeowners facing tough times. After a late night visit, a niece compares Dillinger and his latest fur-clad female companion to "the beautiful people in a Fitzgerald novel." Among the characters who chronicle Dillinger's last year are fellow bank robber Baby Face Nelson; Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent ridiculed for his near misses who eventually catches up with Dillinger; and the "woman in red," who was with Dillinger when he was ambushed. Knight portrays Dillinger with humor and sensitivity, reflecting the fascination this notorious bank robber holds 65 years after his death. Vanessa Bush

Product Details

• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031286759X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312867591
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,236,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dillinger is just plain fun, February 4, 2005

By 

Mo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnnie D : The Story of John Dillinger (Hardcover)

This book takes a look at the highlights of John Dillinger's criminal career from the perspective of his loves, his fellow gang members and the law enforcement officials who saught after him as well as Dillinger himself. While the book is well written and linear in events, it is a mostly fictional first hand account of conversations and detailed events from the lives of these infamous criminals. We all like to fantasize on what really happened in all the blank spaces, and the author did an excellent job of filling in those blanks we are so curious about. If you can read this book with that perspective, you'll enjoy every page. I have read numerous articles and books regarding the Dillinger Gang and I love it that the characters are shown as "real people" rather than over sensationalized as either crooks or robin hoods of the depression era. Its a fun read! Especially if you spend too much time reading historical, dry documents.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dillinger comes to life on these pages, March 1, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johnnie D : The Story of John Dillinger (Hardcover)

031286759X

In 1933, John Dillinger, public enemy number one captures the fancy of depression America. He becomes a hero as he robs ten banks over the course of a year. Jails don't seem to hold him as he escapes from the seemingly impossible containment area that prisons are supposed to be. <M> Since banks seem only to foreclose during that era, people worship Dillinger as a modern day Robin Hood. He becomes more heroic by the day as the flamboyant criminal turns the FBI and other law enforcement officials into the Keystone Cops, that is until that fatal day when the Lady in Red sets him up to die in a heroic shoot-out.

THE STORY OF JOHNNY D is a fabulous biography that more than just highlights the life, especially the last year, of John Dillinger. The book places his rise to fame inside a period piece that shows why Johnny D is popular and bankers and FBI agents are not. Dillinger's genuine exploits read like an Errol Flynn tale adding to the Depression Era feel. Arthur Winfield Knight, author of THE SECRET LIFE OF JESSE JAMES, makes biographies as much fun to read as the TV series makes them to watch.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars Dillinger, January 11, 2011

By 

Terry Carver (Billings, MT) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Johnnie D : The Story of John Dillinger (Hardcover)

Got into a "Dillinger mood" ordered this book. Great seller and purchase arrived in excellent condition and I enjoyed the book(the price was perfect also)! Keep up the good work providing customers with excellent service! Thank you!!!