Bullets for Dead Hoods

In the early 2000s, Chicago author, curator and gallerist John Corbett struck thrifter’s gold in a going-out-of-business Chicago junk shop when he stumbled onto a 1933 manuscript intimately documenting the Chicago Mafia. Presented here in facsimile in order to capture the physicality of the typewritten and annotated document, this title offers an expanded overview of the Chicago Outfit through 140 character sketches that range from the infamous to their lesser-known aiders and abetters.The tone of the browned and brittled pages immediately grabbed him—sensationalistic and funny, they read like an embellished police blotter as they named names, gave addresses, and detailed crimes. Whoever dared to put this testament together was clearly someone with access to information—a cop? a detective? a newspaperman? a bitter mafioso?—but who would’ve risked sharing this information, and why, is a mystery that will most likely never be solved. What is left for us is a concise introduction to a particularly gripping chapter in American history that, through its details, knits Chicago together in a new way. In addition to the 1933 manuscript in facsimile (approximately 185 pages), the book includes an introduction by John Corbett; a compilation of the 500+ locations referenced in the manuscript; and a map featuring those street addresses in Chicago.
ISBN 9781940190266. Soberscove Press. pb. 224 pages. 196 colour ills. 22.2 x 29.8 cm.
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