Eliot Ness

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 2 FEB 1997

Eliot Ness (1903-1957) is popularly known as a vice-battling paragon of integrity--the man who put Al Capone out of business. This image, Heimel (High Wire Angel: The Angel Wallenda Story, 1993) shows, is largely a fiction created by Ness and ghostwriter Oscar Fraley for the book The Untouchables (1957), then perpetuated by the TV series starring Robert Stack. As Heimel explains, the truth about Ness is much more ambiguous and interesting. In spite of his work enforcing the Prohibition, Ness was a heavy drinker, a womanizer and something of a blowhard. He was politically ambitious and a relentless self-promoter, yet wound up a failure in business and politics and died nearly penniless. Those who knew him liked him and found him charming, yet he was a dull and inept campaigner. Unfortunately, in this lifeless biography these contradictions are stated rather than engaged. Heimel seems to make little attempt to understand the complexities of Ness's personality. A single lively reminiscence from a drinking crony speaks more to Ness's personality than does most of Heimel's exposition. The author leans heavily on secondary sources, including newspaper articles that he describes at the end of the book as "incomplete and... inaccurate," and the interviews he conducted for the book seem superficial. This book will likely disappoint informed readers.