The first thing I would say is that how could it happen that this book, published in the U.S. in 1928, remained unpublished in Italy for seventy-three years.
And unfortunately I believe, with little fear of making mistakes, it would stay forever if he had not inspired the namesake movie directed by Martin Scorsese in 2002 (and filmed almost entirely in the Cinecitta studios in Rome). Ringraziando Scorsese, Leonardo Di Caprio e Cameron Diaz per aver di fatto consentito la lettura di queste pagine, passiamo ai contenuti.
Le Gang di New York (Gangs of New York) non è un romanzo vero e proprio, ma è, per usare le parole dell'autore, "un tentativo di narrare fedelmente le gesta più spettacolari del cittadino ribelle che per almeno un centinaio di anni rappresentò un pericoloso flagello per New York, sottolineandone il background di vizio povertà e corruzione politica tanto da rendere comprensibile la sua personalità".
Cento anni di gang, di storie criminali, di figure e situazioni tanto incredibili quanto vere. La ricostruzione di Herbert Asbury (1889-1963), journalist and novelist, is precise and full of charm, despite the harshness and cruelty of the themes of some characters. I cite, for example, the legendary Albert E. Hicks, convicted murderer to death, whose execution by hanging in 1860 on the island of Bedloe (which would house the Statue of Liberty ), was a true spectacle for the city, complete with a boat trip and lunch to book in advance.
And Bill the Butcher ( "Bill the Butcher" ), John Morrissey, Louie the Lamp, Kid Twist, Monk Eastman, described and presented with pictures that seem to come from the cartoons an old Dick Tracy comic .
The New York show of the century in vividly, ruthless and corrupt. Roads and places such as The Tombs (the prison), the sinister Bowery Theatre, Center Street, the neighborhood known as Five Points, Hell's Kitchen, Paradise Square, give off a sordid fascination with their history but also through the writing of Asbury: "Edward Coleman, one of gansgter originating in Paradise Square, fell in love with a girl known around the neighborhood selling the cobs as the beautiful warm. He married her after fierce fights with a dozen suitors and eventually killed when the proceeds of the wife turned out to be below expectations. "
The guide to Asbury is on time, not without irony, and cites dozens of gangs, analyze trends and rituals, explains the nicknames and tells the endless fights, crimes on a commission basis with a lot of price list distributed on the streets of the city (scarring on the cheek from 1 to $ 10, bullet in the leg 5 to $ 25 and so on. ..).
The Gang of New York is a book that can fascinate the student of the city and the curiosity of every reader. Many of the buildings and places mentioned in the book are missing or completely transformed, and this adds value to the work of Asbury, it makes a sort of guide to the disappearance of New York, New York slum, where the line between legal and illegal was confused and evanescent, with teams of firefighters to fire and plunder, criminals who dream of do the cops and cops who are criminals.
close with a note on a beautiful cover of the book reproduces that of No January 13, 1906 the magazine Bowery Boy Library . For those, like myself, is sensitive to the charm of vintage illustrations is a must a jump to this section of the site Syracuse University, where you can find many other covers of the historic weekly, published at the time by Street and Smith.
The Gang of New York, Herbert Asbury, Garzanti, 2001
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