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American Desperado: My Life--From Mafia Soldier to Cocaine Cowboy to Secret...

by Roberts, Jon; Wright, Evan | PB | Good
US $7.17
ApproximatelyAU $11.08
Condition:
Good
Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ... Read moreabout condition
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Located in: Aurora, Illinois, United States
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eBay item number:376172044498
Last updated on 05 Aug, 2025 02:11:28 AESTView all revisionsView all revisions

Item specifics

Condition
Good
A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears. The dust jacket for hard covers may not be included. Binding has minimal wear. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing or tearing, minimal pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab
Seller notes
“Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ...
Binding
Paperback
Weight
0 lbs
Product Group
Book
IsTextBook
No
ISBN
9780307450432

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Crown Publishing Group, T.H.E.
ISBN-10
0307450430
ISBN-13
9780307450432
eBay Product ID (ePID)
112199190

Product Key Features

Book Title
American Desperado : My Life--From Mafia Soldier to Cocaine Cowboy to Secret Government Asset
Number of Pages
576 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
2012
Topic
Personal Memoirs, Organized Crime, Criminals & Outlaws, Criminology
Genre
True Crime, Social Science, Biography & Autobiography
Author
Jon Roberts, Evan Wright
Format
Trade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height
1.2 in
Item Weight
15.4 Oz
Item Length
7.8 in
Item Width
5.2 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience
Trade
Dewey Edition
23
Reviews
"A spellbinding narrative of drugs, death and debauchery as told by one of America's most notorious criminals….A savage, unrelenting tale." ─Kirkus Reviews "The Moby Dick of mob memoirs… here is everything you've wanted to know-and much better, here is the way everything felt. Evan Wright puts you so deep inside a career in organized crime that midway through you'll begin expecting a knock on your door and a call from your lawyer." ─David Lipsky, author of the national bestseller ABSOLUTELY AMERICAN " Delivers all the guilty pleasures one expects from a gangster's memoir, but Wright's superb prose offers something more: a meditation on good and evil during the glittering decay of late 20th century civilization… One of the best books of the year." ─James L. Swanson, Edgar Award winning author of the New York Times bestsellers MANHUNT and BLOODY CRIMES "AMERICAN DESPERADO is not only stranger but so much better than fiction…Captivating, addictive, and head-spinning, this one-of-a-kind book earns its place on the top shelf of true crime accounts." ─Chuck Hogan, New York Times bestselling author of PRINCE OF THIEVES(basis of the Academy Award-nominated "The Town") " American Desperado is the first great crime book of the 21st Century. Dangerous, darkly hilarious, hair-raising, and terrifically written, Wright's prose spills over with the kind of insane, brilliantly rendered detail and dialogue that make you want to call people at four in the morning and read out loud." ─Jerry Stahl, New York Times bestselling author of PERMANENT MIDNIGHT "AMERICAN DESPERADO is one of the most disturbing memoirs I've ever read… Evan Wright does a brilliant job getting into Roberts' scary head … I never want to be in the same room with Jon Roberts, but I couldn't stop reading his book." ─Steven Gaines, New York Times bestselling author of PHILISTINES AT THE HEDGEROW and FOOL'S PARADISE "Seldom have I read an account of criminal enterprise that took me so deeply into the blackness of a man's soul-a scary read, pounding and relentless and irresistible." ─Bruce Porter, author ofBLOW " Imagine if Mister Kurtz from HEART OF DARKNESS sat down with Dick Cavett for a little chat about the nature of good and evil , empathy, fatherhood, violence, drugs, power, self-knowledge, women, family, the hero versus the anti-hero, freedom, imprisonment... Try as you might, you can't really put this book down." ─Doug Stanton, New York Times bestselling author of HORSE SOLDIERS and IN HARM'S WAY " A tour de force. The best crime book since WISEGUY. Puts you in the middle of a world where it's wonderful to be a tourist, terrible to be a resident. I am filled with nothing but admiration and envy for Evan Wright." ─Rich Cohen, New York Times bestselling co-author of WHEN I STOP TALKING YOU'LL KNOW I'M DEAD, and author of TOUGH JEWS From the Hardcover edition., "A spellbinding narrative of drugs, death and debauchery as told by one of America's most notorious criminals....A savage, unrelenting tale." Kirkus Reviews "The Moby Dick of mob memoirs... here is everything you've wanted to know--and much better, here is the way everything felt. Evan Wright puts you so deep inside a career in organized crime that midway through you'll begin expecting a knock on your door and a call from your lawyer." David Lipsky, author of the national bestseller ABSOLUTELY AMERICAN " Delivers all the guilty pleasures one expects from a gangster's memoir, but Wright's superb prose offers something more: a meditation on good and evil during the glittering decay of late 20th century civilization... One of the best books of the year." James L. Swanson, Edgar Award winning author of the New York Times bestsellers MANHUNT and BLOODY CRIMES "AMERICAN DESPERADO is not only stranger but so much better than fiction...Captivating, addictive, and head-spinning, this one-of-a-kind book earns its place on the top shelf of true crime accounts." Chuck Hogan, New York Times bestselling author of PRINCE OF THIEVES (basis of the Academy Award-nominated "The Town") " American Desperado is the first great crime book of the 21st Century. Dangerous, darkly hilarious, hair-raising, and terrifically written, Wright's prose spills over with the kind of insane, brilliantly rendered detail and dialogue that make you want to call people at four in the morning and read out loud." Jerry Stahl, New York Times bestselling author of PERMANENT MIDNIGHT "AMERICAN DESPERADO is one of the most disturbing memoirs I've ever read... Evan Wright does a brilliant job getting into Roberts' scary head ... I never want to be in the same room with Jon Roberts, but I couldn't stop reading his book." Steven Gaines, New York Times bestselling author of PHILISTINES AT THE HEDGEROW and FOOL'S PARADISE "Seldom have I read an account of criminal enterprise that took me so deeply into the blackness of a man's soul--a scary read, pounding and relentless and irresistible." Bruce Porter, author of BLOW " Imagine if Mister Kurtz from HEART OF DARKNESS sat down with Dick Cavett for a little chat about the nature of good and evil , empathy, fatherhood, violence, drugs, power, self-knowledge, women, family, the hero versus the anti-hero, freedom, imprisonment... Try as you might, you can't really put this book down." Doug Stanton, New York Times bestselling author of HORSE SOLDIERS and IN HARM'S WAY " A tour de force. The best crime book since WISEGUY. Puts you in the middle of a world where it's wonderful to be a tourist, terrible to be a resident. I am filled with nothing but admiration and envy for Evan Wright." Rich Cohen, New York Times bestselling co-author of WHEN I STOP TALKING YOU'LL KNOW I'M DEAD, and author of TOUGH JEWS
Dewey Decimal
363.45092
Synopsis
The true story of super-criminal Jon Roberts, star of the documentary Cocaine Cowboys. American Desperado is Roberts' no-holds-barred account of being born into Mafia royalty, witnessing his first murder at the age of seven, becoming a hunter-assassin in Vietnam, returning to New York to become--at age 22--one of the city's leading nightclub impresarios, then journeying to Miami where in a few short years he would rise to become the Medellin Cartel's most effective smuggler. But that's just half the tale. The roster of Roberts' friends and acquaintances reads like a Who's Who of the latter half of the 20th century and includes everyone from Jimi Hendrix, Richard Pryor, and O.J. Simpson to Carlo Gambino, Meyer Lansky, and Manuel Noriega. Nothing if not colorful, Roberts surrounded himself with beautiful women, drove his souped-up street car at a top speed of 180 miles per hour, shared his bed with a 200-pound cougar, and employed a 6"6" professional wrestler called "The Thing" as his bodyguard. Ultimately, Roberts became so powerful that he attracted the attention of the Republican Party's leadership, was wooed by them, and even was co-opted by the CIA for which he carried out its secret agenda. Scrupulously documented and relentlessly propulsive, this collaboration between a bloodhound journalist and one of the most audacious criminals ever is like no other crime book you've ever read.

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