Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One

by Elliott J. Gorn

In an era that witnessed the rise of celebrity outlaws like Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger was the most famous and flamboyant of them all. Reports on the man and his misdeeds--spiced with accounts of his swashbuckling bravado and cool daring--provided an America worn down by the Great Depression with a salacious mix of sex and violence that proved irresistible.
In Dillinger's Wild Ride, Elliott J. Gorn provides a riveting account of the year between 1933 and 1934, when the Dillinger gang pulled over a dozen bank jobs, and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. A dozen men--police, FBI agents, gangsters, and civilians--lost their lives in the rampage, and American newspapers breathlessly followed every shooting and jail-break. As Dillinger's wild year unfolded, the tale grew larger and larger in newspapers and newsreels, and even today, Dillinger is the subject of pulp literature, serious poetry and fiction, and films, including a new movie starring Johnny Depp. What is the power of his story? Why has it lingered so long? Who was John Dillinger? Gorn illuminates the significance of Dillinger's tremendous fame and the endurance of his legacy, arguing that he represented an American fascination with primitive freedom against social convention. Dillinger's story has much to tell us about our enduring fascination with outlaws, crime and violence, about the complexity of our transition from rural to urban life, and about the transformation of America during the Great Depression.
Dillinger's Wild Ride is a compulsively readable story with an unforgettable protagonist.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography, History, American History, Crime, Mystery

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Elliott J. Gorn (Ph.D. Yale University, 1983, A.B. University of California, Berkeley, 1973) is the Joseph Gagliano Professor of American Urban History and has a distinguished record of scholarship, publication and excellence in teaching and student mentorship. His books and articles embrace multiple aspects of urban and American culture, particularly the history of various social groups in American cities since 1800. Gorn’s work is interdisciplinary and intersects with numerous other fields.

His four major books examine various aspects of urban life and city cultures in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century United States, including Dillinger’s Wild Ride: The Year That Made America’s Public Enemy Number One (Oxford University Press, 2009); Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America (Hill and Wang, 2001, Korean edition, 2003); A Brief History of American Sports, co-authored with Warren Goldstein (Hill and Wang, 1993; reissued University of Illinois Press, 2004); and The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America (Cornell University Press, 1986; 2nd edition, 2010, with a new bibliography and afterword).

Gorn has edited eight volumes, including Sports in Chicago (University of Illinois Press, 2008); The McGuffey Readers: Selections from the 1878 Edition, with an introduction (Bedford Books, 1998); Muhammad Ali, The Peoples' Champ (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995); and The Encyclopedia of American Social History, 3 volumes, co-edited with Peter Williams and Mary Cayton (Scribners, 1993), which was awarded the Dartmouth Certificate by the American Library Association. He has published and reprinted more than 50 articles, book chapters and reviews in a wide variety of scholarly journals, encyclopedias, edited collections and news magazines, including the American Historical Review, the Journal of American History, the Journal of American Studies, the Journal of Urban History, the Journal of Sport History, American Quarterly, the International Journal of Maritime History, Harper’s Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Mother Jones, Boom: A Journal of California, Le Monde Diplomatique Dissent On-Line, Slate, The Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Tribune.

- taken from his staff profile, see "official website"

Reviews

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Dillinger has become such a mythic, even romantic figure, that much of the facts of his life of crime have been lost to time. Much like Jesse James, he is more legend than man. Elliott Gorn details Dillinger's exploits, finding the real man behind the myth. In a nation beaten down by the Great Depression, his string of robberies and jailbreaks gave people some vicarious excitement while also sticking it to the banks so many of them hated. Moving from misfit to criminal, John Dillinger finds a country that never could forget him. Using a detalied, historical approach, Gorn shows the man behind this uniquely American hero.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's this little police booth downtown where I live in Goshen, Indiana. It was built 4 years after Dillinger was killed, but it's got his name all over it.

Dillenger never hit Goshen - when I first moved to Goshen, there were two banks adjacent to the police booth, so I'm guessing there was something there during Dillinger's reign. And he hit South Bend to the north of us, and Warsaw to the south of us. Who knows?

I'm a new Hoosier, though. So, I'm not as up with all things Dillinger. The guy who picked this book is a Hoosier through and through. (I should screen shot a post of his where his daughter found a chicken nugget that was shaped like Indiana. It's a classic...)

At any rate, he'd grown up hearing about Dillinger hideouts in his area, and he'd never really read up on the guy. And now we all have.

I don't think we celebrate criminals the same way we did in the past. The Great Depression was rough, though, and a lot of people felt like the banks were stealing from them - so Dillinger was just evening things out. A lot of people cheered him on. (And to be fair, Joaquin Phoenix did just win an Oscar for his portrayal of Joker... so maybe we cheer on criminals at times today, as well.)

The book was set up in an odd fashion. It looked at how Dillinger was reported on while he was alive - and took sources from all over the country. So, it was part biography, part scrapbook. It was interesting.

One interesting picture from the scrapbook was this one:



I didn't think much of it when I first saw it, but the book did end up spending like... 5 pages on it, all told. Turns out that Dillinger's bank robberies weren't the only thing that made him legendary.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

As someone with a large interest in criminal history and "stars" of the underworld, this book was difficult for me to enjoy and get through. Very well researched and footnoted, however as a book it is extremely boring. On top of this the author has a borderline obsession with what the newspaper headlines said about a given situation. These headlines and discussion of said headlines make up roughly 60% of the book, and the descriptions of the events and/or continuing saga is constantly and painfully disrupted with them. Personally I bought the book to read about his saga and the events, not to read part of the event and then spend 3 pages hearing about what the New York Times thought about it or what this little paper thought about it, I frankly don't care.

By pg 30 I had grown tired of that game and so whenever a newspaper would come up I would skim until I saw that discussion was over. This saved me from wasting my time reading roughly 100 pgs of it.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow mover to the point of being tedious.

Disappointing that the author could not do more than this with a potentially interesting subject.

Hope the Johnny Depp movie fares much better.

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a Chicago-area boy, I of course heard of Dillinger and how he was betrayed by a moll at the (still-existing) Biograph Theater in Chicago, but knew little about him otherwise. Perhaps not the most thorough biography, though well-documented, but at least a good start.

His major career of robbing banks only lasted little more than a year before he was killed, but he became a legend and a hero to many. Not because he did good, but because he robbed banks, which many ordinary people had come to despise as the Great Depression was in full force. His fame came less from robbing banks than from the fact that he kept slipping through the fingers of law enforcement, even oftentimes robbing police stations of their own weapons and breaking out of prison twice. Indeed, his success was based in large part on the ineptitude and corruption of various law enforcement agencies...and he may have been deliberately assassinated in Chicago to cover this fact up.

Though the book shows sympathy for his honest family, it does not try to lionize or pity Dillinger himself, suggesting he was prone to wickedness anyway, even though other criminals he associated him were worse. On the minus side, the book repeats itself a lot, especially about how ordinary people hated banks and the government due to the suffering as a result of the Depression. (We got that already.) Intriguing, but there are reportedly better books out there already on the subject.

[NonFiction 24/7 · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, I couldn't gain any traction on this book. It looked good from the cover

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elliott Gorn provides a thrilling and compelling narrative of John Dillinger’s time as Public Enemy Number one and the seminal events in Dillinger’s life that led him to that position. Without dwelling too much on the psychology of how Dillinger came about into his life of crime (Gorn straddles between the time Dillinger spent in prison made him a criminal and the nature of Dillinger led him to a life of crime as inevitable result) Gorn follows the history of bank robberies and events that built up the legend of Dillinger. Gorn also follows the development of the FBI and the science of crime fighting although he points out it was still a lucky break and a heavily armed task force that brought Dillinger down. The book is well researched and provides the right amount of balance for those looking to learn more about the Gangster culture of the depression era. If you are looking for a book that will tell you everywhere Dillinger slept and every crime he committed then this will not be the book for you. If you are looking for a strong overview that will give you a good sense of who Dillinger was and the populism that he aroused in the nation then this is a great place to start.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

My interest was peaked to read this book because Dillinger was one of Indiana well known criminal from the depression era. Dillinger's whole life was one of making bad decisions. He could have had a decent life as a young man and was not in proverty as many other people in that time period. He had a good job as a machinist and quit, joined the navy and went AWOL. He was discharged as undesirable. He married but didn't make it work. Most legends think of him as a poor farm boy that led a gang robbing banks to help the poor. The reality was he was reared the first seventeen years in Indianapolis. He become public enemy number one and outwitted many federal agents. His appeal was his unruffled, casual good natured manner, and easygoing smile. I haven't seen the new movie with Johnny Depp but I plan to soon.

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just beginning...similar to the Maltese Falcon....
my dad brought-us-up enjoying the gangster era movies and mysteries of the 20's, 30's, 40's, etc.

I'm not into history but enjoyed this.

I was surprised about the comment that Dillinger was like SATAN: where he could adjust his persona to be liked by anyone.

I didn't understand why they didn't go into Canada when they were in Saute Saint Marie...if they really wanted to "start-over".

I was very surprised about the sleezy political stature of J. Edgar Hoover.

[Gabe Sansone · Rating 4 out of 5]

i like how they insight into his past as child his favorite food was a certain pie i can't remember what it was how he spent 9 years in prison on a 50 dollar stick up at a grocery store he had a tough time in prison always getting in trouble and how he came out tried to look for work but times were tough so he turned to robbin banks when he gets desperate he teams up with another famous gangster baby face nelson i like when he gets together with his family after his escape from prison wit a toy gun i am sure he did some bank jobs right aft a he got out

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, mainly because the events of Dillinger's life are fascinating. This retelling becomes as much about the media firestorm surrounding the outlaw as it is about his life itself, as one could see by the three pages on Dillinger's death vs the entire chapter about what was said in it's aftermath.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was a fascinating read about the notorious gangster. I learned a lot about John Dillinger and the people he was surrounded by. Fortunately, I was able to meet Mr. Gorn who is just as interesting as his book.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well researched book, however it is definitely an overview. If you are looking for details or an in depth look at Dillinger and his gang's life/exploits, you won't find them here. It's an interesting book, but adds nothing new, so there's really no need for it.

[Jennifer Tanko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a blast to read. Gorn clearly admires Dillinger but I can't say I blame him. Does a beautiful job relating Dillinger's life to the sweeping cultural change of the times--which have a STRIKING relevance to today. Enjoy!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed account of Dillinger's life with emphasis on the last year of it. Highly detailed with bibliographic sources. While not exciting readings, it has good basic information to anyone interesred in the time era and culture of "gangsters".

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but Towards the end just got too be much. Last chapter was too much

[Terri]

I really knew little about Dillinger except for the Lady in Red and the shootout at the theater. This is interesting

[Sonya Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was heavily researched and footnoted- interupted flow of the book- difficult to get through

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far, I am forcing myself through this book. It is required for a class, but it is not a page turner. I'm about 60 pages in and I keep putting it off.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dad gsve me this book. A good read,but occassionally dry.

[Aimee Kudrna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly interesting but very dry. Kind of like reading a text book.