Robert J. Shoenberg, a former advertising executive, is the author or two other books, including Geneen, a much-praised biography of ITT founder Harold Green.
"In [this] fascinating if unsettling book...[Schoenberg] shuns the lurid approach of previous Capone biographers and instead portrays the mob leader as 'a businessman of crime' who took chaotic underworld enterprises like bootlegging, prostitution and gambling and put them on a rational business basis."-- "The New York Times""[Schoenberg makes] Capone real again, rescuing his reputation from the Hollywood mythmakers....Schoenberg's Al Capone is far more human, complex and worthy of attention than the one-dimensional myth."-- "Chicago Sun-Times""Schoenberg has done massive research....There are rich descriptions of many of the apocalyptic events of the roaring Chicago '20s."-- "Los Angeles Times Book Review""Shoenberg has done a masterful job of research and has clearly come up with the definitive biography of one of America's most colorful gangsters."-- "The Detroit News"Shoenberg states that his book is 'an attempt to demonstrate why [Capone] did what he did, how things looked to him, what led to his decisions.' . . . For the most part, readers of "Mr. Capone will simply revel in the old stories of 'beer killings, ' as Chicago police captain John Stege called them, and savor any new tidbits."-- "Chicago Tribune"Written with style and verve . . . Even where Mr. Schoenberg lays to rest favorite tall tales, the true accounts are usually even more fascinating."-- "The Washington Times
Although his reign as Chicago mob boss only lasted from 1926 to 1931, Al Capone endures as America's most infamous gangster. Schoenberg, author of the biography Geneen ( LJ 1/85), presents a serious, well-researched portrait of Capone and his times. Capone was a product of the Prohibition era, and while one segment of society was horrified by the corruption and killings associated with him, another identified with his flouting of the blue laws. His celebrity was his downfall: ``It was my own fault. Publicity--that's what got me.'' After a seven-year prison term for tax evasion, he died of syphilis in 1947. Readable and balanced, this is the most detailed biography of Capone to date. Recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/92.-- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
"In [this] fascinating if unsettling book...[Schoenberg] shuns the lurid approach of previous Capone biographers and instead portrays the mob leader as 'a businessman of crime' who took chaotic underworld enterprises like bootlegging, prostitution and gambling and put them on a rational business basis."-- "The New York Times""[Schoenberg makes] Capone real again, rescuing his reputation from the Hollywood mythmakers....Schoenberg's Al Capone is far more human, complex and worthy of attention than the one-dimensional myth."-- "Chicago Sun-Times""Schoenberg has done massive research....There are rich descriptions of many of the apocalyptic events of the roaring Chicago '20s."-- "Los Angeles Times Book Review""Shoenberg has done a masterful job of research and has clearly come up with the definitive biography of one of America's most colorful gangsters."-- "The Detroit News"Shoenberg states that his book is 'an attempt to demonstrate why [Capone] did what he did, how things looked to him, what led to his decisions.' . . . For the most part, readers of "Mr. Capone will simply revel in the old stories of 'beer killings, ' as Chicago police captain John Stege called them, and savor any new tidbits."-- "Chicago Tribune"Written with style and verve . . . Even where Mr. Schoenberg lays to rest favorite tall tales, the true accounts are usually even more fascinating."-- "The Washington Times
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