By the same author as "Ragtime", and "The Book of Daniel", this novel is set in New York in the days of the Depression. It is the story of Billy Bathgate, who joins the notorious Dutch Schulz gang as a good luck charm, protege and apprentice mobster.
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By the same author as "Ragtime", and "The Book of Daniel", this novel is set in New York in the days of the Depression. It is the story of Billy Bathgate, who joins the notorious Dutch Schulz gang as a good luck charm, protege and apprentice mobster.
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Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $14.31, very good condition, Sold by John C. Newland rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Cheltenham, Glos., UNITED KINGDOM, published 1989 by Macmillan.
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Seller's Description:
Used-Very Good. VG hardback in VG dust jacket. 1st UK edition, 1989. No inscriptions or annotations; pages slightly yellowed; binding tight; dust jacket a little worn at edges. No barcode on dust jacket back panel.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $14.49, fair condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1989 by Macmillan.
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Fair. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. The book is perfectly readable and fit for use, although it shows signs of previous ownership. The spine is likely creased and the cover scuffed or slightly torn. Textbooks will typically have an amount of underlining and/or highlighting, as well as notes. If this book is over 5 years old, then please expect the pages to be yellowing or to have age spots. Ripped/damaged jacket. The dust jacket of this book is slightly damaged/ripped, however, this does not affect the internal condition. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $15.06, good condition, Sold by Hay-on-Wye Booksellers rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hereford, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1989 by Macmillan.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $16.32, very good condition, Sold by Roger Lucas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Horncastle, Lincs, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1989 by Macmillan.
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Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. UK reprint, 8vo, 323pp, previous owner's inscription to ffep, and cheap 1980s paper beginning to age-tan o/w VG Copy in VG DJ.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $16.34, very good condition, Sold by Halcyon Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from LONDON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1989 by Picador.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $17.00, very good condition, Sold by BookHouse On-Line rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Minneapolis, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Macmillan London.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 9x6x1; Very good hardcover, in dust jacket, from a personal collection. Binding is tight, sturdy, and square; blue paper boards also very good; silver titling remains bright and bold. A bit of tearing to top corners of jacket, and one at head of spine, else intact and handsome; foxing to verso. Toning to text block. Interior is free of previous owner markings. Ships same or next day from Dinkytown, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $19.00, like new condition, Sold by Brian Bauld (B-Line Books) rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Amherst, NS, CANADA, published 1989 by Random House.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $19.15, very good condition, Sold by The Guru Bookshop rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hereford, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1989 by Macmillan.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $22.77, very good condition, Sold by The Guru Bookshop rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hereford, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1989 by Macmillan.
Add this copy of Billy Bathgate to cart. $28.31, very good condition, Sold by Cambridge Rare Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Cambridge, Gloucestershire, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1989 by Macmillan.
Much of E.L Doctorow's finest writing celebrates the vibrancy, brashness, and diversity of New York City. Doctorow's novels also show a fascination with secular Jews -- with individuals who abandon traditional Jewish religious practice and adopt various other types of life. Thus, "The Book of Daniel" explores New York City in the 1940s in a historical novel based upon the Rosenbergs. Doctorow's remarkable novel, "City of God," explores contemporary New York City in the context of secular Jews and of highly liberal Jews who have adopted beliefs and practices far different from traditional Judaism.
In "Billy Bathgate", Doctorow offers an unforgettable picture of gangland New York City and of Jewish mobsters dominated by the figure of Dutch Schultz, as Doctorow takes the reader away from the humdrum everyday and into a world of rawness, danger, and excitement. Life needs its dangers and risks, Doctorow seems to be telling the reader, if it is not to be stupyfing, dull, and conventional.
"Billy Bathgate" is a coming-of-age story set in the New York City underworld of the 1930s. The book is told in the first person by its hero, the fifteen-year old Billy (who takes the name "Bathgate" from the chief commercial street in the East Bronx) who becomes attached to the gang led by the notorious Dutch Schultz (1902 -- 1935), born Arthur Flegenheimer to a poor Jewish family in the Bronx. The book is told in a breathy, highly excitable and emotive style appropriate to the voice of its young, naive protagonist. Billy's father had disappeared when the boy was young, and Billy lives with his poor, at best marginally sane mother. He seems destined for a life of petty thievery and cheap tawdry sex until Dutch Schultz notices the boy juggling on a street corner near a beer drop-off. Billy ingratiates himself with the Schultz gang in its declining days. Schultz becomes a father-figure to Billy. Schultz basks in the attention he receives from the boy and in his public notoriety.
Doctorow has written a richly-textured historical novel which shows us New York City and the gangland world. While the reader comes to understand and sympathize with Billy, Doctorow does not allow the reader to lose site of the random viciousness of gangland life. There are scenes of shocking violence and killing, the most fully developed of which involves the murder of Schultz' former associate, Bo Weinberg. Dutch Schultz in all his brutality and intensity come to life in this book as do the members of his inner circle. His chief lieutenant, Otto Berman, known as "Abadabba" Berman, a mathematical genius, becomes a mentor to Billy and is one of the most sharply-drawn characters in the novel. At great peril to himself, Billy becomes involved with Schultz' final mistress. This affair becomes the focal point of his coming to a degree of self-understanding. Rival gangs and New York officialdom, including District Attorney Thomas Dewey also receive a rich portrayal.
Much of the symbolism of the book revolves around the use of words and of change, as Billy Bathgate, Abadabba Berman, and Dutch Schultz, among others, adopt names not their own. Billy's skill at juggling, which appears at many points in the book, becomes a metaphor for the importance of adopting to change and of being light on one's feet if one is to succeed in the world. As Berman counsels Billy in many of their astonishing conversations, only the numbers are real while words change. Religion, and Jewish-Christian relations play a role in this book as well, illustrating the theme of constant change, as Dutch Schultz appears to convert from Judaism to Catholicism late in the novel. The book captures the fast-paced, slangy style of speech of its protagonists and includes as well heady, striking, and detailed passages of description.
This is a tough-minded novel, a gripping read, and, in its own way, an inspiring tale. "Billy Bathgate" is an unforgettable work by one of the United States' major living storytellers.
