18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed Reactions, April 9, 2001
This review is from: Running With Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults (Hardcover)
Running With Bonnie and Clyde may be the best book yet on Texas' favorite Depression outlaws. The extensive documentation is impressive, priceless interviews with now deceased Barrow and Parker kinfolk, former associates and adversaries, and previously unpublished photos makes this an invaluable addition to the library of any '30's gangster aficionado. But problems exist here, too. One is that the recollections of one of Phillips' principal informers, former Barrow gangster Ralph Fults, are sometimes questionable. From past testimony of James Mullens, Floyd Hamilton and others, it is well authenticated that the Eastham prison break was planned from the inside by Raymond Hamilton and that Clyde became involved almost by accident, which makes one wonder about Fults' allegation that the Barrow gang was formed with the intention of oneday staging a crashout. The $33,000 bank robbery Phillips reports in 1932, based on the recollections of Fults, raises more questions than it answers. Phillips gives no exact date for the robbery but, on pages 68-69, reports that it was of the First National Bank in Lawrence, Kansas. In his source notes, however, Phillips expresses uncertainty as to the location of the bank or the amount stolen and admits that the crime "cannot be verified by hard evidence" but accepts the story on the trusting basis that it was the only Fults tale that didn't check out! So was the robbery in Lawrence or somewhere else? Was $33,000 taken? Or more? Or less? Where do these details come from? If Fults provided this information it should have been easy to confirm through contemporary newspaper accounts. Phillips owes his readers a major explanation here. Later, describing the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde, Phillips wrongly records that every man in the posse was armed with a Browning Automatic Rifle. The only B.A.R. present, other than the three in Clyde's car, was fired by Deputy Ted Hinton, as both he and Hamer reported. Phillips seems to have a thing about Brownings, though. A photo on page 245 shows an officer armed with a Remington Model 8 Autoloader--the type of rifle carried by Hamer and Gault at the ambush--which is misidentified as a B.A.R. The author's gun expertise may be somewhat lacking but guns play such a prominent role in the Bonnie and Clyde story that it demands accurate firearm identification. This may be the best Bonnie and Clyde book yet but it remains seriously flawed.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The stories Ralph Fults told me. Personally!, January 15, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Running With Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults (Hardcover)
I live in Dallas, and everyone has a Bonnie & Clyde story. I was always curious about outlaws, but only by reading about them. I met Ralph Fults when I was about 14. I believe he worked as a security guard at the Buckner Orphanage. I was there occasionally when our soccer team would play on the Orphanages grounds. He would tell these stories that seemed like some movie. Some detail though reminded me of stories my moms best friend had told us. I always figured he was full of hot air. Years later I read an article in Dallas' Parade section of a News Paper. It was that man I had heard tell so many stories. I then asked my moms friend about her childhood. Turns out she had grown up across the street and down 2 houses from Bonnie. She was always fetching oranges and whatever fruit to send with the gang when they'd leave Dallas. There were a couple of photos she showed me with all these people in a Basment or cellar where they'd visit and hideout. The Basement/cellar location had been my biggist memory from my mothers friend. What she recalled fit perfectly with Ralph Fults' recollections. After reading this book and having heard some these storie years ago, Ralph's memory hasn't seemed to change. I would put his view on Clyde, Bonnie, Buck, and the running from the law above most for a realistic idea on what it was like to barely survive in those times and why they chose the path they chose.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truth Behind the Legend Revealed at Last!, April 18, 2001
This review is from: Running With Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults (Hardcover)
Since my childhood in the sixties, the tragic tale of Bonnie and Clyde has never ceased to fascinate and intrigue me. My interest, of course, was sparked by the release of the highly acclaimed - and controversial - film. It was then that I began my search for the REAL Bonnie and Clyde, but the information available was quite limited back then. I can still remember seeing photographs of them for the first time and being haunted by their images. What dark forces compelled them to lead such desperate, destructive lives? It would be many more years before any real explanations came to light, but now, at long last, we have THE definitive tell-all.
Author John Neal Phillips' epic account probes deep into their world; the squalid streets of West Dallas in the late 1920's and early 1930's. With vivid clarity, he goes way beyond merely presenting the reader with an accurate chronological history; he makes you feel their presence, and their spirits come to life through his words.
In spite of their considerable wrong-doings, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker both were complex and uniquely talented individuals who turned down the wrong path, and before they knew it, couldn't turn back. It becomes easy to see just why the two of them gained so much public sympathy in those difficult times. Far from being evil, psychotic monsters, they, themselves, were victims in so many ways. Clyde, who possessed great charisma, did have his share of demons. But he was not devoid of all conscience, either. Even his greatest adversaries admitted to having a somewhat peculiar admiration for him. He may have been an outlaw, but he certainly wasn't a punk. As for Bonnie, her downfall stemmed entirely from the fact that she could not, indeed, WOULD NOT, bear life without him. Clyde's love for her was so great that he pleaded with her to go home, turn herself in, testify against him - whatever it might take so that her life might be spared. Bonnie consistently refused to consider this option. She was determined to stand by her man to the bloody end, and stand by him she did. Such was their devotion to one another, and this is what set them apart from all the rest.
Resulting from years of meticulous research, Mr. Phillips has gained astonishing insight - and through his considerable efforts, many aspects of their lives are now much clearer to me. Dilligently sifting fact from massive doses of folklore, this is the most comprehensive study of their lives (and the aftermath) to have ever been written. It is impossible for even the most cynical reader not to feel empathy for the outlaw pair, and to not be deeply touched by the incredible life journey of one-time accomplice, Ralph Fults, as well. Talk about survivors! This man truly went to hell and back and lived to tell the story. His metamorphosis was quite extraordinary - and inspiring - to say the least.
The mystique of the legend will live on through the generations, but for anyone who has ever sought the real truth about Bonnie and Clyde, search no more -- here it is!!! This book is not only a goldmine of factual information, but also a bonafide literary masterpiece, in my opinion. As someone who has read almost every available book written on the enigmatic pair by now, I give this one the highest praise possible. "Running with Bonnie and Clyde" more than lives up to it's reputation of being "the Bible of all Bonnie and Clyde books." I strongly urge anyone reading this review to buy this book, then read it -- again and again.
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