Customer Reviews

The Real Police: Stories from the Crescent City

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This collection of stories is nearly impossible to put down once begun. It is a unique look into the unpredictable world of police work as well as an intriguing perspective on human nature in general. Highly recommended to all except for the kiddies and the squeamish.

I've been on the job in New Orleans my whole career. It's a rough city and this book does a good job of looking at it from the officers' perspectives. Me, I can't say which stories are real or not, but I know they all ring true. Maybe you want to know what the job's like, then this book tells it.

This book was so true-to-life, it was painful. I found myself either laughing or crying. The insight into the life of a "Cop" as revealed in this book was human, explicit, and exposing. I laud the courage of one who could and would write this material. (Special note: The only reason I did not give this book a 5 Star rating is that it just is NOT for every reader, only the brave.) As a woman, I appreciated the format of the book as it is not really chaptered (sic) or sequenced but individual and brief stories shared with the author. This allowed me to take the material in and digest it's rawness in small doses. Also, the scattering of quotes and facts used to separate the stories was a delightful and unexpected addition. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants the "real stuff" about "real cops." Ironically, however, it offers much insight into the pure and naked reality of humanity.

because this book mysteriously sprouts legs during a shift and finds its way the greedy hands of your fellow officers.

Someone finally decided to put a collection of war stories together, in a form that everyone can enjoy. A book you can pick up for a couple of minutes, put down, and come back to without missing a beat.

This book at the same time dispells and confims all those curious antics about the mysterious and intrepid New Orleans Police Department and surrounding agencies. The Crecent city is legendary throughout the world for its debauchery. This book sheds light on the men and women who serve to maintain the thin blue line between chaos and humanity.

Jim Prine's "The Real Police" is the most
true-to-life police book I've ever read. This
book has been making the rounds of our unit, and
the entire Police Department. Everyone who picks
it up reacts in two ways...either they start grinning
or they bust out laughing.

Prine, who is a real cop, has taken a lot of heat
for writing his book, but we admire him for having the
the guts to go ahead and publish it.

The stories are a faithful depiction of what actually
happens in everyday police work. Frankly, I don't know
how Prine got the other cops to talk to him about
this stuff, or get permission to use their stories,
but they are here for all to see.

Good book, highly recommended if you like to read
about actual cops and not Hollywood cardboard
characters.

To get any closer to the action, you'd have to
swear the oath and pin on a badge yourself...

Prine's book is a fascinating and unique glimpse into the true ordeals faced by the men and women of the thin blue line. Police officers are a different breed of human being, and the problems they deal with are equally different from the main stream of life. The Real Police gives the outsider a most intimate look at police work by relating the true but nevertheless bizarre stories that cops (until now) have kept to themselves. Each story is radically different from the last. The reader, much like a cop on the beat, doesn't know what to expect next. All of the tales have two things in common: they are all true and each will leave a lasting impression. In short, it makes for an irresistible page-turner

This book just does not flow. These individual stories are hit or miss, and they miss more often then hit. This book had potential with the excitement and flair of New Orleans, not to mention the reputation of their Department, but it does not delve into these areas. Just not a good book.