Billy Bathgate

by E. L. Doctorow

Other authorsMark Deakins (Narrator)

Digital audiobook, 2014

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Genres

Collection

Audiobooks

Publication

Random House Audio (2014), Unabridged MP3; 11h15

Description

The story of Billy Bathgate, a boy who has insinuated himself into the inner circle of the notorious Dutch Schultz gang to become apprentice and protege to one of the great murdering gangsters.

User reviews

LibraryThing member mrstreme

This book is an interesting peek into the lives of gangsters in 1930's New York. Billy Bathgate was born in the Bronx slums, living a fatherless and reckless life, until he is befriended by famous gangster, Dutch Schultz. Schultz shows him the inner workings of crime, killing, gambling and

bootlegging. Billy latches on to this less-than-admirable life as way to scratch some type of existence for his insane mother and himself. An opportunist and a quick study, Billy seems to be numb to the unethical lifestyle of a gangster. That is, until he falls in love with Schultz's girlfriend.

I doubt few could argue Doctorow's brilliance as a writer. Even with a neatly tied-up ending, his story about a young boy, love and relationships transports you to the very setting of the story. Admittedly, I was thrown off by the many run-on sentences and stream of consciousness writing style, but I believe it was a necessary literary trick used by Doctorow to make you feel like you knew exactly what Billy is thinking.

Like Ragtime, this novel is a snapshot of the lives of people living our American history. When you finish Billy Bathgate, you will have a better understanding of the Great Depression, Prohibition and the economic impacts of the 1930's. If you like historical fiction mixed with a social commentary, then you may find Billy Bathgate to be a good selection for you.

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LibraryThing member actonbell

This was captivating coming of age novel that takes place in 1935. Billy Bathgate is an unusually bright teenager, but he's also a neglected, poor child from the Bronx who needs attention and someone's approval. He finds this in a dangerous place, becoming involved with one of the most violence

gangsters in New York City. How he manages to stay on the right side of a dangerous man and avoid serious trouble makes for a good read. This is written in Billy's very credible voice, and is well-paced.

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LibraryThing member gmicksmith

The poor of the Bronx during the Depression had it bad. So bad that Dutch Schultz just may give a young boy a break. Our protagonist Billy Bathgate starts under the gangster's wicked ways. Little Billy grows up towards his destiny, and his triumph.

LibraryThing member mrminjares

Billy Bathgate is a novel about a precocious boy from a poor section of the Bronx who voluntarily joins the gang of Dutch Schultz who finds Billy to be an invaluable new member of his murderous New York racket. Billy has an intelligent eye and learns quickly, proving to the gang he is older than

his years. Billy does indeed seem older than his years though the first person account he gives in this novel. He has very wise reflections on himself, his relationship to crime, his predicament, and ways to extricate himself. But in the end billy stays loyal and. Enefits from a bit of luck but also his smarts. He is someone we can cheer at the end.

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LibraryThing member JosephJ

Doctorow’s fictional account of the journey of Billy Bathgate is an exceptional examination of what it means to grow into a man. After wowing his way into working for the infamous Dutch Schultz gang, Bathgate witnesses the ugly side of the world. He is a narrator who is, at times, both confident

in and scared of his new-found profession. The book is an elegant view into the mind of a boy who is coping with the loss of innocence that comes with knowledge of the real world--only he does so under some violent circumstances.

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LibraryThing member presto

The notorious Dutch Schultz gang is revered by the young deprived boys of the Bronx, among them and no less impressed is Billy Bathgate who is keen to become involved, so when the chance arises he does not hold back and soon this precocious young fifteen year old finds himself accepted into the

gang. This is the world of protection rackets, gang enforced business monopolies and tax evasion set against the background of drive by shootings and big black Packards.

Billy's diligence, inventiveness and initiative is such that very soon Schultz is referring to Billy as his protege. We follow Billy's rise within the gang, and his various assignments through to the ultimate fate of the gang, and to what becomes of Billy thereafter.

The shear beauty of the prose is enough to keep one going through this involving account, even if I did hesitate when just a few pages in it seemed we were going to witness a brutal gang retribution; while the horrors of gang life are there it never descended into any unnecessary gruesomeness, but maintains the emphasis on the individuality of the various characters, primarily the members of the gang and the beautiful young women who becomes involved with Schultz, and through such, Billy.

Billy Bathgate is a most involving novel, the character of the title is most endearing, but above all it is the high quality of the flowing prose that is the real pleasure of this book.

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LibraryThing member Schmerguls

I read this book because it won the Book Critics Circle fiction award for 1989. It is the 27th such winner I have read. It is laid in 1935 and tells of the ingratiating way that Billy, age 15, worked his way into the Dutch Schultz gang by being "capable" and doing what he was told. It read easily

and is of interest as an insight into gangsterdum in that era. The story skips around some, telling of the death of a character--dumped into the ocean after having his feet encased in cement--and then telling of what lead up to that murder--although just why Bo was murdered in not spelled out. One of course cannot admire the central character, except that he was making himself agreeable to the mammon of iniquity, as Scripture suggests..

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LibraryThing member AliceAnna

An absolutely brilliant mix of fact and fancy. The story of the downfall of the Dutch Schultz gang as told by a young hanger-on who manages to insinuate himself into the club. Excellent full characterizations, intricate plot and wonderful use of the English language. After reading it, I looked at

the real story of Dutch Schultz on Wikipedia. Doctorow did a fabulous job of using the known details and weaving Billy's story into it. Excellent story and writing.

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LibraryThing member strandbooks

Billy Bathgate is the story of a 15 year old East Bronx kid becoming involved in a very sterotypical portrayal of the New York mob. At first I enjoyed the run on sentences that seemed to sound like a poorly educated street kid, but then Doctorow loses that tone. It is as if he needs to wield some

impressive author vocab acrobatics every now and again so the voice of the kid is lost. Example: "I felt as if I was descending into a pore of the planet, and then I came around a bend and was looking down at a cantilevered ledge shaped like an enormous arrowhead"
In the end the reader learns that Billy Bathgate is telling the story years later after a very good education. Without knowing this in the beginning the Bronx tone mixed with the Ivy League language is disjointed and pulled me away from the story.

However, without Doctorow's way with language and character development this would be a boring cartoonish crime/mob novel.

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LibraryThing member AlisonLea

Whoa--intense and fast-paced. Typical Doctorow in many ways, especially, I think, in his somewhat limited treatment of female characters, but still I like Doctorow's style and focus on historical fiction.

LibraryThing member mikedraper

As a reader opens the pages of "Billy Bathgate" they are taken back to the days of prohibition and notorious gangsters.

One of those famous gangsters wi Dutch Schultz. He befriends Billy and becomes a father-like figure to the fifteen-year-old boy. Shultz who was born in the Bronx in 1901 built his

criminal network from bootlegging, gambling and murder.

Billy lives with his mom in a run down area of Lenox Ave and 125th street. He had no father and no direction in life. He comes to idolize Schultz from his power, the way he's revered in the community and by many of New York jet setters.

There are many shady characters in the story. The reader gets to share some of the words of Walter Winchell and hear Schultz's remarks of Thomas E. Dewey.

Schultz has a girlfriend and Billy spends a great deal of time with her she is much of the reason for his sexual awakening.

I enjoyed the story and look back into a time that many of our parents and grandparents enjoyed. Their stories may be gone but in this story, some of the events of that time are brought to life once more.

The characters are well developed and become likable in their own way. It is particularly fun to witness the Jewish Schultz conversion to Catholicism as nears his trial date and he attempts to build a good-guy image.

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LibraryThing member lucybrown

I am done! This is the fourth time I have tried to read Billy Bathgate since I received it as the book of the month from QPBC in 1989. Kidding I am not! I know Doctorow is an esteemed writer. The fault is no doubt with me. I can live with that. This is just not the book for me. Moving on. For good

this time.

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LibraryThing member lucybrown

this time.

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LibraryThing member alexrichman

A gripping opening yanks you into the heart of Dutch's gang, and as the book unfolds you're left dreading the inevitable unravelling. It sagged a little in the middle (to be fair, the crew was supposed to be lying low) but this has great writing, great characters and a great story to boot.

LibraryThing member lkernagh

I really like this one, even if there were some disturbing scenes that had me starting to second guess why I wanted to read this, my first exposure to E. L. Doctorow's novels. What worked for me is the well drawn setting and the pitch perfect voice of our young Billy. Boy, does Billy think fast on

his feet and grow up fast for a street smart middle teen kid from a fatherless, East Bronx childhood! I get that the Depression era was a hard scrabble on its own. Add in a strong, gangster element as Doctorow has done here, and the end result is a fast-reading peerless (and perilous) coming-of-age story. Doctorow provides enough detail about 1930s New York life (from the view of the city's notorious underground crime economy) that it was easy for me to visualize life in those times, from that perspective.

What can I say... an easy flowing, captivating read, with some interesting jolts along the way.

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LibraryThing member charlie68

A gripping account of the gangster life of Dutch Schultz, fictionalized but still close to what actually happened. The narrator also does very well bringing the words to life.

LibraryThing member brakketh

Gangster youth turns into successful business may - very strong Dickensian vibes for me with solid rough-and-ready American gangster.

LibraryThing member lucybrown

this time.

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LibraryThing member Kristelh

Reason for reading; TBR takedown, Reading 1001, ROOT. This is a work of historical fiction and is set in New York City area and involves organized crime. Billy is a young boy who works his way into the gang. He takes on the last name Bathgate as his identity. Bathgate is the name of a street. The

story is based on a real gangster, Dutch Schultz. The book won the 1989 National Book Critics Circle award for fiction for 1990,the 1990 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction,the 1990 William Dean Howells Medal,and was the runner-up for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the 1989 National Book Award.

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