Author: Roben Farzad
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0399583254
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
The wild, true story of the Mutiny, the hotel and club that embodied the decadence of Miami’s cocaine cowboys heyday—and an inspiration for the blockbuster film, Scarface... In the seventies, coke hit Miami with the full force of a hurricane, and no place attracted dealers and dopers like Coconut Grove’s Mutiny at Sailboat Bay. Hollywood royalty, rock stars, and models flocked to the hotel’s club to order bottle after bottle of Dom and to snort lines alongside narcos, hit men, and gunrunners, all while marathon orgies burned upstairs in elaborate fantasy suites. Amid the boatloads of powder and cash reigned the new kings of Miami: three waves of Cuban immigrants vying to dominate the trafficking of one of the most lucrative commodities ever known to man. But as the kilos—and bodies—began to pile up, the Mutiny became target number one for law enforcement. Based on exclusive interviews and never-before-seen documents, Hotel Scarface is a portrait of a city high on excess and greed, an extraordinary work of investigative journalism offering an unprecedented view of the rise and fall of cocaine—and the Mutiny—in Miami.
Hotel Scarface
Author: Roben Farzad
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0399583254
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
The wild, true story of the Mutiny, the hotel and club that embodied the decadence of Miami’s cocaine cowboys heyday—and an inspiration for the blockbuster film, Scarface... In the seventies, coke hit Miami with the full force of a hurricane, and no place attracted dealers and dopers like Coconut Grove’s Mutiny at Sailboat Bay. Hollywood royalty, rock stars, and models flocked to the hotel’s club to order bottle after bottle of Dom and to snort lines alongside narcos, hit men, and gunrunners, all while marathon orgies burned upstairs in elaborate fantasy suites. Amid the boatloads of powder and cash reigned the new kings of Miami: three waves of Cuban immigrants vying to dominate the trafficking of one of the most lucrative commodities ever known to man. But as the kilos—and bodies—began to pile up, the Mutiny became target number one for law enforcement. Based on exclusive interviews and never-before-seen documents, Hotel Scarface is a portrait of a city high on excess and greed, an extraordinary work of investigative journalism offering an unprecedented view of the rise and fall of cocaine—and the Mutiny—in Miami.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0399583254
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
The wild, true story of the Mutiny, the hotel and club that embodied the decadence of Miami’s cocaine cowboys heyday—and an inspiration for the blockbuster film, Scarface... In the seventies, coke hit Miami with the full force of a hurricane, and no place attracted dealers and dopers like Coconut Grove’s Mutiny at Sailboat Bay. Hollywood royalty, rock stars, and models flocked to the hotel’s club to order bottle after bottle of Dom and to snort lines alongside narcos, hit men, and gunrunners, all while marathon orgies burned upstairs in elaborate fantasy suites. Amid the boatloads of powder and cash reigned the new kings of Miami: three waves of Cuban immigrants vying to dominate the trafficking of one of the most lucrative commodities ever known to man. But as the kilos—and bodies—began to pile up, the Mutiny became target number one for law enforcement. Based on exclusive interviews and never-before-seen documents, Hotel Scarface is a portrait of a city high on excess and greed, an extraordinary work of investigative journalism offering an unprecedented view of the rise and fall of cocaine—and the Mutiny—in Miami.
Scarface Nation
Author: Ken Tucker
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429993294
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 307
Book Description
"Don't get high on your own supply." Brian de Palma's brash, bloody version of Scarface was trashed by critics when it came out twenty-five years ago and didn't do well at the box office, but has become a spectacular fan favorite and enduring pop culture classic since. "Never underestimate the greed of the other guy." What makes millions of people obsess over this movie? Why has Al Pacino's Tony Montana become the drug kingpin whose pugnacity and philosophy are revered in boardrooms and bedrooms across America? Who were the people that made the movie, influencing hip-hop style and swagger to this day? "The world is yours." Scarface Nation is Ken Tucker's homage to all things Scarface—from the stars that acted in it to the influence it's had on all of us, from facts, figures and stories about the making of the movie to a witty and comprehensive look at Scarface's traces in today's pop and political culture. "Say hello to my li'l fren!" You know you love the line. You know you've seen the movie more than once. Now dive into the ultimate book of Scarface—mounded as high as the pile of cocaine on Tony's desk with delicious details and stimulating observations. "You know what capitalism is? F--- you!"
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429993294
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 307
Book Description
"Don't get high on your own supply." Brian de Palma's brash, bloody version of Scarface was trashed by critics when it came out twenty-five years ago and didn't do well at the box office, but has become a spectacular fan favorite and enduring pop culture classic since. "Never underestimate the greed of the other guy." What makes millions of people obsess over this movie? Why has Al Pacino's Tony Montana become the drug kingpin whose pugnacity and philosophy are revered in boardrooms and bedrooms across America? Who were the people that made the movie, influencing hip-hop style and swagger to this day? "The world is yours." Scarface Nation is Ken Tucker's homage to all things Scarface—from the stars that acted in it to the influence it's had on all of us, from facts, figures and stories about the making of the movie to a witty and comprehensive look at Scarface's traces in today's pop and political culture. "Say hello to my li'l fren!" You know you love the line. You know you've seen the movie more than once. Now dive into the ultimate book of Scarface—mounded as high as the pile of cocaine on Tony's desk with delicious details and stimulating observations. "You know what capitalism is? F--- you!"
Fool's Paradise
Author: Steven Gaines
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307346285
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
From the acclaimed bestselling author of Philistines at the Hedgerow comes a remarkably revealing profile of the Miami Beach no one knows–a tale of fabulous excess, thwarted power, and rekindled lives that will take its place among the decade’s best works of social portraiture. Created from a mix of swampland and dredged-up barrier reef, Miami Beach has always been one part drifter-mecca and one part fantasyland, simultaneously a catch basin for con men, fast-talk artists, and shameless self-promoters, and a Shangri-La for sun worshippers and hardcore hedonists. In Miami Beach it’s often said that "if you’re not indicted you’re not invited." But the city’s mad, fascinating complexity resists easy stereotyping. Fool’s Paradise is more than just a present-day profile of a dark Eden. Gaines journeys back into the city’s social and cultural history, unearthing stories of the resort’s past that are every bit as absorbing–and jaw-dropping–as those of its present. The book begins with a snapshot of the city’s current excess (this is, after all, a sun-washed hamlet that boasts, on a per capita basis, more bars–and breast implants–than any other place in America), then plunges into the Beach’s origins, chronicling the audacious rise of such hoteliers as the Fontainebleau’s Ben Novack and the Eden Roc’s Harry Mufson, the sharp-elbowed tactics of Al Capone and Frank Sinatra, and the Mac-10 shooting sprees of the Marielito and Colombian drug lords. From there, the narrative shifts to two wildly eccentric souls who gave their lives to preserving the city’s architectural dazzle and creating its color palette, introduces us to "the Most Powerful Man in Miami Beach," and arrives finally in the modern day, where we meet, among others, a kinky German playboy who once owned a quarter of South Beach and publicly flaunts his sexual escapades; a fabulously successful nightclub promoter whose addictive past seems to have given him a portal into the night world’s id; and a gaggle of young sexy models, dreamers, and schemers on a mission to achieve significance. Evoking the Beach’s surreal blend of flashy Vegas and old Hollywood glamour, as well as its manic desperation and reckless wealth, Gaines persuasively demonstrates that though the Beach is–in the words of its most famous drag queen–"an island of broken toys . . . a place where people get away with things they’d never get away with anyplace else," it casts an irresistible spell.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307346285
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
From the acclaimed bestselling author of Philistines at the Hedgerow comes a remarkably revealing profile of the Miami Beach no one knows–a tale of fabulous excess, thwarted power, and rekindled lives that will take its place among the decade’s best works of social portraiture. Created from a mix of swampland and dredged-up barrier reef, Miami Beach has always been one part drifter-mecca and one part fantasyland, simultaneously a catch basin for con men, fast-talk artists, and shameless self-promoters, and a Shangri-La for sun worshippers and hardcore hedonists. In Miami Beach it’s often said that "if you’re not indicted you’re not invited." But the city’s mad, fascinating complexity resists easy stereotyping. Fool’s Paradise is more than just a present-day profile of a dark Eden. Gaines journeys back into the city’s social and cultural history, unearthing stories of the resort’s past that are every bit as absorbing–and jaw-dropping–as those of its present. The book begins with a snapshot of the city’s current excess (this is, after all, a sun-washed hamlet that boasts, on a per capita basis, more bars–and breast implants–than any other place in America), then plunges into the Beach’s origins, chronicling the audacious rise of such hoteliers as the Fontainebleau’s Ben Novack and the Eden Roc’s Harry Mufson, the sharp-elbowed tactics of Al Capone and Frank Sinatra, and the Mac-10 shooting sprees of the Marielito and Colombian drug lords. From there, the narrative shifts to two wildly eccentric souls who gave their lives to preserving the city’s architectural dazzle and creating its color palette, introduces us to "the Most Powerful Man in Miami Beach," and arrives finally in the modern day, where we meet, among others, a kinky German playboy who once owned a quarter of South Beach and publicly flaunts his sexual escapades; a fabulously successful nightclub promoter whose addictive past seems to have given him a portal into the night world’s id; and a gaggle of young sexy models, dreamers, and schemers on a mission to achieve significance. Evoking the Beach’s surreal blend of flashy Vegas and old Hollywood glamour, as well as its manic desperation and reckless wealth, Gaines persuasively demonstrates that though the Beach is–in the words of its most famous drag queen–"an island of broken toys . . . a place where people get away with things they’d never get away with anyplace else," it casts an irresistible spell.
The Year of Dangerous Days
Author: Nicholas Griffin
Publisher: 37 Ink
ISBN: 1501191020
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
In the tradition of The Wire, the harrowing story of the cinematic transformation of Miami, one of America’s most bustling cities—rife with a drug epidemic, a burgeoning refugee crisis, and police brutality—from journalist and award-winning author Nicholas Griffin Miami, Florida, famed for its blue skies and sandy beaches, is one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations, with nearly twenty-three million tourists visiting annually. But few people have any idea how this unofficial capital of Latin America came to be. The Year of Dangerous Days is a fascinating chronicle of a pivotal but forgotten year in American history. With a cast that includes iconic characters such as Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, and Janet Reno, this slice of history is brought to life through intertwining personal stories. At the core, there’s Edna Buchanan, a reporter for the Miami Herald who breaks the story on the wrongful murder of a black man and the shocking police cover-up; Captain Marshall Frank, the hardboiled homicide detective tasked with investigating the murder; and Mayor Maurice Ferré, the charismatic politician who watches the case, and the city, fall apart. On a roller coaster of national politics and international diplomacy, these three figures cross paths as their city explodes in one of the worst race riots in American history as more than 120,000 Cuban refugees land south of Miami, and as drug cartels flood the city with cocaine and infiltrate all levels of law enforcement. In a battle of wills, Buchanan has to keep up with the 150 percent murder rate increase; Captain Frank has to scrub and rebuild his homicide bureau; and Mayor Ferré must find a way to reconstruct his smoldering city. Against all odds, they persevere, and a stronger, more vibrant Miami begins to emerge. But the foundation of this new Miami—partially built on corruption and drug money—will have severe ramifications for the rest of the country. Deeply researched and covering many timely issues including police brutality, immigration, and the drug crisis, The Year of Dangerous Days is both a clarion call and a re-creation story of one of America’s most iconic cities.
Publisher: 37 Ink
ISBN: 1501191020
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
In the tradition of The Wire, the harrowing story of the cinematic transformation of Miami, one of America’s most bustling cities—rife with a drug epidemic, a burgeoning refugee crisis, and police brutality—from journalist and award-winning author Nicholas Griffin Miami, Florida, famed for its blue skies and sandy beaches, is one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations, with nearly twenty-three million tourists visiting annually. But few people have any idea how this unofficial capital of Latin America came to be. The Year of Dangerous Days is a fascinating chronicle of a pivotal but forgotten year in American history. With a cast that includes iconic characters such as Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, and Janet Reno, this slice of history is brought to life through intertwining personal stories. At the core, there’s Edna Buchanan, a reporter for the Miami Herald who breaks the story on the wrongful murder of a black man and the shocking police cover-up; Captain Marshall Frank, the hardboiled homicide detective tasked with investigating the murder; and Mayor Maurice Ferré, the charismatic politician who watches the case, and the city, fall apart. On a roller coaster of national politics and international diplomacy, these three figures cross paths as their city explodes in one of the worst race riots in American history as more than 120,000 Cuban refugees land south of Miami, and as drug cartels flood the city with cocaine and infiltrate all levels of law enforcement. In a battle of wills, Buchanan has to keep up with the 150 percent murder rate increase; Captain Frank has to scrub and rebuild his homicide bureau; and Mayor Ferré must find a way to reconstruct his smoldering city. Against all odds, they persevere, and a stronger, more vibrant Miami begins to emerge. But the foundation of this new Miami—partially built on corruption and drug money—will have severe ramifications for the rest of the country. Deeply researched and covering many timely issues including police brutality, immigration, and the drug crisis, The Year of Dangerous Days is both a clarion call and a re-creation story of one of America’s most iconic cities.
Kings of Cocaine
Author: Guy Gugliotta
Publisher: Garrett County Press
ISBN: 1891053345
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 204
Book Description
This is the story of the most successful cocaine dealers in the world: Pablo Escobar Gaviria, Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez, Carlos Lehder Rivas and Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha. In the 1980s they controlled more than fifty percent of the cocaine flowing into the United States. The cocaine trade is capitalism on overdrive -- supply meeting demand on exponential levels. Here you'll find the story of how the modern cocaine business started and how it turned a rag tag group of hippies and sociopaths into regal kings as they stumbled from small-time suitcase smuggling to levels of unimaginable sophistication and daring. The $2 billion dollar system eventually became so complex that it required the manipulation of world leaders, corruption of revolutionary movements and the worst kind of violence to protect.
Publisher: Garrett County Press
ISBN: 1891053345
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 204
Book Description
This is the story of the most successful cocaine dealers in the world: Pablo Escobar Gaviria, Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez, Carlos Lehder Rivas and Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha. In the 1980s they controlled more than fifty percent of the cocaine flowing into the United States. The cocaine trade is capitalism on overdrive -- supply meeting demand on exponential levels. Here you'll find the story of how the modern cocaine business started and how it turned a rag tag group of hippies and sociopaths into regal kings as they stumbled from small-time suitcase smuggling to levels of unimaginable sophistication and daring. The $2 billion dollar system eventually became so complex that it required the manipulation of world leaders, corruption of revolutionary movements and the worst kind of violence to protect.
Scarface
Author: Armitage Trail
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781773237152
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Scarface is the iconic fictionalization of one of history's most notorious gangsters, Al Capone. It follows Tony Guarino's harsh upbringing on the streets of Chicago, where a young man unwilling to contemplate a life of humble poverty hungers to reach the big time. Tony has grown up in a world where every gangster is a hero and every cop an enemy, so his path to power is paved with force and brutality. At only eighteen, Tony shoots dead gang boss Al Spingola, and this is just the beginning of his uncompromising journey into organized crime. He eventually becomes the most powerful and feared man in the Chicago underworld, luxuriating in a world of opulence, dames, and danger. But while Tony struggles to balance a life of violence with a code of honour, Scarface ultimately proves an ancient maxim - the fate of those who live by the sword. Scarface was first published in 1930, and remains one of the most potent evocations of the origins of American gangster culture ever committed to print, and an ever-green work of cult fiction.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781773237152
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Scarface is the iconic fictionalization of one of history's most notorious gangsters, Al Capone. It follows Tony Guarino's harsh upbringing on the streets of Chicago, where a young man unwilling to contemplate a life of humble poverty hungers to reach the big time. Tony has grown up in a world where every gangster is a hero and every cop an enemy, so his path to power is paved with force and brutality. At only eighteen, Tony shoots dead gang boss Al Spingola, and this is just the beginning of his uncompromising journey into organized crime. He eventually becomes the most powerful and feared man in the Chicago underworld, luxuriating in a world of opulence, dames, and danger. But while Tony struggles to balance a life of violence with a code of honour, Scarface ultimately proves an ancient maxim - the fate of those who live by the sword. Scarface was first published in 1930, and remains one of the most potent evocations of the origins of American gangster culture ever committed to print, and an ever-green work of cult fiction.
The Sexual Murderer
Author: Eric Beauregard
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317407156
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
Sexual homicide continues to be one of the most widely reported and sensationalised forms of murder, attracting fascination from the public and scholars alike. Despite this continued interest, few empirical studies have been conducted on this particular form of sexual crime. The Sexual Murderer provides an analytical review of the state of knowledge on the sexual murderer and his offense, and presents new data that confronts some of the accepted ideas and myths surrounding this type of homicide. The authors draw on original data stemming from both offenders and the police to present an exhaustive and accurate picture of the sexual murderer and his offense, and compare the sex offenders who do kill with sex offenders who, despite being very violent, do not. Each chapter includes a section on the practical implications of the findings, and what the findings mean for professionals working with these cases and for the criminal justice system. This book explores themes including the role of fantasies, paraphilias, and personality; criminal career; context of the crime; journey to murder; modus operandi and crime scene; sex trade workers; avoiding detection; body disposal pathways; and whether we can predict sexual homicide occurrence. This book is a comprehensive resource for academic and professionals involved in sexual homicide cases, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, investigators and profilers, as well as individuals working in the field of sexual violence. This book will also be of interest to students taking courses on homicide, sexual homicide, and serial homicide.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317407156
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
Sexual homicide continues to be one of the most widely reported and sensationalised forms of murder, attracting fascination from the public and scholars alike. Despite this continued interest, few empirical studies have been conducted on this particular form of sexual crime. The Sexual Murderer provides an analytical review of the state of knowledge on the sexual murderer and his offense, and presents new data that confronts some of the accepted ideas and myths surrounding this type of homicide. The authors draw on original data stemming from both offenders and the police to present an exhaustive and accurate picture of the sexual murderer and his offense, and compare the sex offenders who do kill with sex offenders who, despite being very violent, do not. Each chapter includes a section on the practical implications of the findings, and what the findings mean for professionals working with these cases and for the criminal justice system. This book explores themes including the role of fantasies, paraphilias, and personality; criminal career; context of the crime; journey to murder; modus operandi and crime scene; sex trade workers; avoiding detection; body disposal pathways; and whether we can predict sexual homicide occurrence. This book is a comprehensive resource for academic and professionals involved in sexual homicide cases, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, investigators and profilers, as well as individuals working in the field of sexual violence. This book will also be of interest to students taking courses on homicide, sexual homicide, and serial homicide.
The Harlem of the South
Author: Ronald D. Small
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1684561515
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
Follow the amazing journey of a music store owner Joe Higdon, whose journey was filled with and joy also sadness; his walk in life led him in 1924 to open the legendary Hollywood Music Store in Jacksonville, Florida, in the historic African American community of Lavilla, which was incorporated as a city of its own in 1869 and was known as the "Harlem of the South." Hundreds came through the music store on their walk to fame and fortune, such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Sarah "Sassy" Vaughn, Nat King Cole, Bill Daniels, Ray Charles, James Brown, The O'Jays, Al Green, Sam Cook, Sam and Dave, The Temptations, and many more. Joe Higdon had a business relationship with Ms. Clare White, then the daughter of Eartha M. M. White. He befriended gangster such as James "Charlie Edd" Craddock. One of Jacksonville's wealthiest and most prosperous African American businessman, he owned hotels, restaurants, a pawnshop, the Two Spot nightclub, and the famous whorehouse, the "Blue Chip Hotel" It was Joe Higdon who asked Eartha M. M. White to lease Charlie Edd the land to build the most popular club in the African American community, the "Two Spot." Charlie Edd employed ruthless gangsters who battled the Youngblood family in Nassau County to keep running moonshine up and down I–95. After Joe Higdon's death in 1958, the music store was inherited by Nathaniel D. Small, Joe's nephew, who continued the business for over forty years. This story is filled with events throughout the times. It walks you through from the life and time of Joe Higdon, the gangster Charlie Edd, Eartha M. M. White, and into the crime life of Ronald D. Small, how he inherited the Hollywood music store, to his life–changing experience with God, to this face–to–face encounter with Scarface, the drug lord in Miami, to finding himself face down on the floor surrounded by ten cops with guns pressed against his face, to his jaw–dropping courtroom jury trail. The only child of Nathaniel and Lillian Small, his struggle with crime was what led him home to the hall of God.
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1684561515
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
Follow the amazing journey of a music store owner Joe Higdon, whose journey was filled with and joy also sadness; his walk in life led him in 1924 to open the legendary Hollywood Music Store in Jacksonville, Florida, in the historic African American community of Lavilla, which was incorporated as a city of its own in 1869 and was known as the "Harlem of the South." Hundreds came through the music store on their walk to fame and fortune, such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Sarah "Sassy" Vaughn, Nat King Cole, Bill Daniels, Ray Charles, James Brown, The O'Jays, Al Green, Sam Cook, Sam and Dave, The Temptations, and many more. Joe Higdon had a business relationship with Ms. Clare White, then the daughter of Eartha M. M. White. He befriended gangster such as James "Charlie Edd" Craddock. One of Jacksonville's wealthiest and most prosperous African American businessman, he owned hotels, restaurants, a pawnshop, the Two Spot nightclub, and the famous whorehouse, the "Blue Chip Hotel" It was Joe Higdon who asked Eartha M. M. White to lease Charlie Edd the land to build the most popular club in the African American community, the "Two Spot." Charlie Edd employed ruthless gangsters who battled the Youngblood family in Nassau County to keep running moonshine up and down I–95. After Joe Higdon's death in 1958, the music store was inherited by Nathaniel D. Small, Joe's nephew, who continued the business for over forty years. This story is filled with events throughout the times. It walks you through from the life and time of Joe Higdon, the gangster Charlie Edd, Eartha M. M. White, and into the crime life of Ronald D. Small, how he inherited the Hollywood music store, to his life–changing experience with God, to this face–to–face encounter with Scarface, the drug lord in Miami, to finding himself face down on the floor surrounded by ten cops with guns pressed against his face, to his jaw–dropping courtroom jury trail. The only child of Nathaniel and Lillian Small, his struggle with crime was what led him home to the hall of God.
Miami Babylon
Author: Gerald Posner
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781416576563
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Here, in all its neon-colored, cocaine-fueled glory, is the never-before-told story of the making of Miami Beach. Gerald Posner, author of the groundbreaking investigations Case Closed and Why America Slept, has uncovered the hair-raising political-financial-criminal history of the Beach and reveals a tale that, in the words of one character, "makes Scarface look like a documentary." From its beginnings in the 1890s, the Beach has been a place made by visionaries and hustlers. During Prohibition, Al Capone had to muscle into its bootlegging and gambling businesses. After December 1941, when the Beach was the training ground for half a million army recruits, even the war couldn't stop the party. After a short postwar boom, the city's luck gave out. The big hotels went bankrupt, the crime rate rose, and the tourists moved on to Disney World and the Caribbean. Even after the Beach hosted both national political conventions in 1972, nobody would have imagined that this sandy backwater of run-down hotels and high crime would soon become one of the country's most important cultural centers. But in 1981, 125,000 Cubans arrived by the boatload. The empty streets of South Beach, lined with dilapidated Art Deco hotels, were about to be changed irrevocably by the culture of money that moved in behind cocaine and crime. Posner takes us inside the intertwined lives of politicians, financiers, nightclub owners, and real estate developers who have fed the Beach's unquenchable desire for wealth, flash, and hype: the German playboy who bought the entire tip of South Beach with $100 million of questionable money; the mayoral candidate who said, "If you can't take their money, drink their liquor, mess with their women, and then vote against them, you aren't cut out for politics"; the Staten Island thug who became king of the South Beach nightclubs only to have his empire unravel and saved himself by testifying against the mob; the campaign manager who calls himself the "Prince of Darkness" and got immunity from prosecution in a fraud case by cooperating with the FBI against his colleagues; and the former Washington, D.C., developer who played hardball with city hall and became the Beach's first black hotel owner. From the mid-level coke dealers and their suitcases of cash to the questionable billions that financed the ocean-view condo towers, the Beach has seen it all. Posner's singular report tells the real story of how this small urban beach community was transformed into a world-class headquarters for American culture within a generation. It is a story built by dreamers and schemers. And a steroid-injected cautionary tale.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781416576563
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Here, in all its neon-colored, cocaine-fueled glory, is the never-before-told story of the making of Miami Beach. Gerald Posner, author of the groundbreaking investigations Case Closed and Why America Slept, has uncovered the hair-raising political-financial-criminal history of the Beach and reveals a tale that, in the words of one character, "makes Scarface look like a documentary." From its beginnings in the 1890s, the Beach has been a place made by visionaries and hustlers. During Prohibition, Al Capone had to muscle into its bootlegging and gambling businesses. After December 1941, when the Beach was the training ground for half a million army recruits, even the war couldn't stop the party. After a short postwar boom, the city's luck gave out. The big hotels went bankrupt, the crime rate rose, and the tourists moved on to Disney World and the Caribbean. Even after the Beach hosted both national political conventions in 1972, nobody would have imagined that this sandy backwater of run-down hotels and high crime would soon become one of the country's most important cultural centers. But in 1981, 125,000 Cubans arrived by the boatload. The empty streets of South Beach, lined with dilapidated Art Deco hotels, were about to be changed irrevocably by the culture of money that moved in behind cocaine and crime. Posner takes us inside the intertwined lives of politicians, financiers, nightclub owners, and real estate developers who have fed the Beach's unquenchable desire for wealth, flash, and hype: the German playboy who bought the entire tip of South Beach with $100 million of questionable money; the mayoral candidate who said, "If you can't take their money, drink their liquor, mess with their women, and then vote against them, you aren't cut out for politics"; the Staten Island thug who became king of the South Beach nightclubs only to have his empire unravel and saved himself by testifying against the mob; the campaign manager who calls himself the "Prince of Darkness" and got immunity from prosecution in a fraud case by cooperating with the FBI against his colleagues; and the former Washington, D.C., developer who played hardball with city hall and became the Beach's first black hotel owner. From the mid-level coke dealers and their suitcases of cash to the questionable billions that financed the ocean-view condo towers, the Beach has seen it all. Posner's singular report tells the real story of how this small urban beach community was transformed into a world-class headquarters for American culture within a generation. It is a story built by dreamers and schemers. And a steroid-injected cautionary tale.
American Desperado
Author: Jon Roberts
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0091945224
Category : Cocaine industry
Languages : en
Pages : 570
Book Description
American Desperado is possibly the most jaw-dropping, event-filled, adrenaline-soaked criminal autobiography ever written. Like a real-life Scarface Jon was born into the upper levels of the Gambino crime family and witnessed his first murder at age seven. He became a one-man juvenile crime wave before joining an assassination squad in Vietnam.
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0091945224
Category : Cocaine industry
Languages : en
Pages : 570
Book Description
American Desperado is possibly the most jaw-dropping, event-filled, adrenaline-soaked criminal autobiography ever written. Like a real-life Scarface Jon was born into the upper levels of the Gambino crime family and witnessed his first murder at age seven. He became a one-man juvenile crime wave before joining an assassination squad in Vietnam.