Sutton, J.R. Moehringer

Sutton by J. R. Moehringer is a story (not exactly a biography, sort of a first person novel with lots of facts mixed into it) of a bank robber, Willy "The Actor" Sutton.  I cannot remember why or how I came to choose this book.  It is a complete blank to me.  I've got a few books about bank robbers in the pile (Billy the Kid, Jesse James, etc).  Maybe there was a period when I just had an interest in bank robbers.  I don't know.

Started:  3/8/3017

Completed: 4/5/2017

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is definitely a novel.  It is so largely on the basis of the difficulty of having any real knowledge of exactly who Willy Sutton was.  His own memoirs were conflicting and the police, FBI, and newspapers had trouble agreeing.  The author has taken some license and attempted to pull all of these things together into something that resembles a coherent narrative.  This is definitely a sympathetic and romanticized narrative.

Being a criminal is simply not romantic.  Prison is harsh and the times were such that being beaten for a confession was not all that unusual.  Jail was simply awful.  Romanticizing the protagonist is honestly the only way to get through it all.  Sutton's early life was appalling.  His choices in friends were awful.  His need to "be somebody" and look "sharp" likely led to his lifestyle.  In this book, it is largely about one woman.  In the end, it is a compelling story--a good novel.  Like most stories based on real criminals, it is hard to believe that this is an accurate account.

All of that said, the book was a good read.  It was enjoyable to hear about the life of this man...even the horrible, awful, bad stuff.  It was interesting to hear how Sutton justified his own actions.  It was interesting to hear about the underbelly of New York at the turn of the last century.  The book was...interesting.