Button Man
A Novel
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4.3 • 219 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
New York Times bestselling author Andrew Gross delivers a compelling, unforgettable tale of a Jewish family torn apart by the birth of organized crime.
New York, 1930s. Morris, Sol, and Harry Rabishevsky grew up poor and rough on the Lower East Side, until the death of their father forced them to fend for themselves and support the family. Morris, the youngest yet most driven of the brothers, apprentices himself to a garment manufacturer; bookish Sol drops out of accounting school; and Harry, always the tough one, believes he can help out by learning the ways and means of a charismatic local crime figure. Later, when Morris and Sol find career success and decide to create their own business, Harry can’t be lured away from the glamour and prestige that comes from being a “button man”—a gun man—for Louis Buchalter, now the most ruthless mobster in the city. When Buchalter sets his sights on the unions that control the garment factories, a fatal showdown becomes inevitable, pitting brother against brother.
“Outstanding and engrossing.”—Associated Press
“Big, heartfelt…with all the street-scrambling energy that distinguishes the best fiction of Jeffrey Archer and Mario Puzo.”—USA Today
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Gross (The Saboteur) charts a gutsy kid's struggle to succeed in the garment industry in early 20th-century New York City in this formulaic crime thriller. In 1915, 12-year-old Morris Raab lands a job sweeping floors and making deliveries for a clothing manufacturer on the Lower East Side. His ambition and drive lead him to put in extra hours and to closely study the work of veteran marker maker Mr. Beck. Despite his youth and inexperience, Morris takes over from Beck after the marker maker announces his retirement. By the time he turns 20, Morris is basically running the business. In later years, he runs afoul of an organized crime group, whose leaders include the vicious Lepke Buchalter; marries the daughter of a big-shot lawyer; and aids mob-busting prosecutor Thomas Dewey in his investigations. Gross strains credulity at several points and fails to bring the mean streets of the Big Apple to life. Still, this Horatio Alger story will resonate with his many fans. 100,000-copy announced first printing; author tour.)
Customer Reviews
Button Man
I met Andrew at a mutual friends house and have greatly enjoyed his past works.
However, this story is as much my families story as it is for so many of us who are the children of the garment industry. My father grew up on Delancey Street to be come a ladies coat buyer and the a ladies coat manufacturer. Dad ran away from home at 15 and fought and clawed to provide for his beloved wife and two children.
Reading this story was reliving my family story and for that I say thank you to Andrew.
Well done,
David Rubin
Button Man
Such an interesting story; so poorly written. Very wooden.