The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley, 1874-1958 (Hardcover)

by Jack Beatty (Author) "Michael Curley came to America at age fourteen; he married at twenty-one; he died at thirty-four..." (more)
Key Phrases: shamrock shutters, undated newspaper, urban populist, New York, James Michael Curley, City Hall (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Read an obituary: "It is difficult to imagine a time when Boston will cease recalling stories about James Michael Curley." This book expands the perimeters of Curley's life, although non-Bostonians of a certain age will remember him as the fictional Frank Skeffington in Edwin O'Connor's The Last Hurrah . In his home town, Curley is remembered affectionately as a rascal king, which, judging by Atlantic senior editor Beatty's finely honed depiction, may be a kinder appellation than is deserved by His Honor, a magnifico who ran for Democratic mayor of Boston 10 times--the last, unsuccessfuly, in 1955 at age 81--capturing the office for four terms, and who served also as governor and in Congress. But the title of Mayor was Curley's favorite, not surprisingly, for it was from that till that this devout Catholic, devoted husband and father of nine children, and student of classical literature accumulated the greatest riches. Born in Boston to Irish-Catholic immigrants, Curley with just nine years of formal schooling early on perceived the efficacy of doing well by doing good. That he succeeded is testified to by the 21-room mansion he built on a mayor's $10,000 annual salary--when Boston purchased 350 The?uppercase ok?/as given in galley Jamaicaway in 1988, the gag around town was that the city had already paid for the property--and by the 100,000 voters who signed a petition to President Truman requesting clemency for their mayor jailed for mail fraud. Curley returned to office after serving five months of his sentence; it was his second imprisonment--the first was in 1903, for taking a civil-service exam for another man. But no matter his offenses, his Irish constituents championed him, for through his politics of ethnic and religious polarization he gave them pride and jobs and they winked at his graft. (In a classic Curley gesture, His Honor equipped City Hall scrubwomen with long-handled mops because, he said, a woman should only get on her knees to pray.) Beatty's portrayal of the era's Democratic party ethos sparkles and edifies, but one takes issue with his attempts to draw contemporary parallels, as when he compares Curley's politics to that of today's "leading black politicians," or writes that Barbara Bush is, like Mary Curley, "a fine white Christian lady" who as the wife of a powerful man "gets pulled along." Beatty's intellectual arrogance is annoying as well: "The sort of people who read editorials were already lost to Curley anyway." But these interpolations are infrequent enough not to markedly diminish the impact of a work that will delight and astound the body politic. Photos not seen by PW .
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Curley is now known principally through Edwin O'Connor's novel, The Last Hurrah (1956). Atlantic editor Beatty writes the first biography in 43 years of a man who over the course of a half-century in politics was four times mayor of Boston, once governor of Massachusetts, twice a congressional representative, and twice a prisoner in jail. Much of this portrait, developed in part through interviews with Curley's son, is familiar in legend: Beatty details Curley's political genius, compassion, verbal gifts, and ability to touch his people, Boston's Irish. Beatty also describes Curley's megalomania, his role in the city's economic decline, and "the labyrinthine ingenuity of his graft." Indicting Curley here, praising him there, Beatty's assessment is fair-minded, his research solid, his asides on today's political parallels enlightening, and his style appropriate to a flamboyant subject. For all Boston-area libraries and for libraries whose patrons are interested in politics, cities, or Irish Americans.
-Robert F. Nardini, North Chichester, N.H.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 581 pages
• Publisher: Perseus Books (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201175991
• ISBN-13: 978-0201175998
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,184,346 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The subject is great but the book isn't, February 26, 2002

By	"dcdre" (Medford, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley (1874-1958) (Paperback)

I read "The Rascal King" after reading Edwin O'Connor's great "The Last Hurrah," a barely fictional account of Curley's reign over Boston. I have to say that O'Connor achieved with fiction what Beatty failed to do with biography... paint a realistic picture of the fascinating life and times of James M. Curley.

Beatty's work, while greatly researched, was extremely choppy and amateurishly written. His timeline is vague and, at points, difficult to follow. He feels it necessary to interject into Curley's story several times with poorly made comparisons to present day political situations, as well very annoying literary references. (He consistently refers to Curley's arrogance of power as Massachusetts governor as a "Xanadu complex." Why not just call him arrogant?). Overall, it felt like Beatty was trying too hard.

Structural and literay problems aside, James Curley has one of the most interesting stories in 20th century American history. His use of "race baiting" against Boston's old Yankee elite (although "nationality baiting" may be more appropriate a term), his questionable campaign tactics, his dubious financial activities as an elected official, and his compassion and kindnes towards the forgotten common man make him one of the great populist leaders of our history. He was the quintessential campaigner and politician. It's too bad Beatty couldn't do him justice.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book depicting Boston politics and immigrants, October 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley 1874-1958 (Paperback)

The Rascal King was a great book about the politics played throughout the country. It is an excellent look at Old Boy's Clubs and it depicts early immigrant life in Boston. My family was involved with politics at the same time, and knew Curley. This is why I read the book. It is great if you have time to sit down and read it.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work marred by personal opinion, July 19, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Ea. Prov., Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

I read this book once and very much want to read it a second time. The historical accuracy is great and the writing style flows nicely. The only drawback I found was the author's propensity to interject his personal opinions as the situation of interest to him arose. If you do what I did, and skip over these "soapbox" opines, you will find this a most satisfying book.