Little Caesar

by W.R. Burnett

Con "Piccolo Cesare", del 1929, siamo all'origine stessa del romanzo criminale. Assieme a "Giungla d'asfalto", l'altro capolavoro di Burnett, costituisce il modello e l'icona di ogni narrazione della giornata del "brulicante, sporca, fracassona, freneticamente viva" come la metropoli moderna, suo ambiente naturale. Da entrambi i romanzi, infatti, vennero insuperabili classici della cinematografia realistica americana; espressioni gergali nacquero dalle perfette metafore dei due titoli, capaci di sintetizzare in un'immagine l'intero universo criminale. Ed è interessante notare che, nati dall'osservazione dichiaratamente oggettiva, "verista" della realtà sociale, i due romanzi hanno certamente influenzato perfino la saggistica sociologica sull'argomento, almeno nelle scelte espressive e nella ricostruzione delle atmosfere. "Piccolo Cesare" è il ritratto di un boss, Rico Bandello, nell'arco della sua eccezionalmente capace, inesorabilmente freddo, professionalmente estraneo a ogni valutazione etica, straordinariamente fortunato. L'intenzione dichiarata dell' autore era di descrivere l'immagine del mondo vista con gli occhi di un gangster" raccontando la storia "in modo che l'azione stessa parlasse". Ma c'è anche qualcosa di più. Tacito ed evidente come una scultura, c'è un tipo umano in tutto il suo spessore psicologico; e in tutta la sua essere comunque sconfitto, dover sempre ricominciare.

Genres: Fiction, Noir, Crime, Mystery, Classics, 20th Century, Thriller

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1929

About the author

William Riley "W. R." Burnett was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel Little Caesar, the film adaptation of which is considered the first of the classic American gangster movies. Burnett was born in Springfield, Ohio. He left his civil service job there to move to Chicago when he was 28, by which time he had written over 100 short stories and five novels, all unpublished.

Burnett kept busy, producing a novel or more a year and turning most into screenplays (some as many as three times). Thematically Burnett was similar to Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain but his contrasting of the corruption and corrosion of the city with the better life his characters yearned for, represented by the paradise of the pastoral, was fresh and original. He portrayed characters who, for one reason or another, fell into a life of crime. Once sucked into this life they were unable to climb out. They typically get one last shot at salvation but the oppressive system closes in and denies redemption.

Burnett's characters exist in a world of twilight morality — virtue can come from gangsters and criminals, malice from guardians and protectors. Above all his characters are human and this could be their undoing.

Burnett worked with many of the greats in acting and directing, including Raoul Walsh, John Huston, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, Douglas Sirk, Michael Cimino, John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Paul Muni, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood.

He received an Oscar nomination for his script for "Wake Island" (1942) and a Writers Guild nomination for his script for "The Great Escape". In addition to his film work he also wrote scripts for television and radio.

On his death in 1982, in Santa Monica, California,Burnett was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California

Reviews

[Francesc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obra publicada en 1929 y hay que contextualizarla en referencia a la innovación que supuso en ese momento.
Novela negra al uso sobre el auge y caída de un gàngster de Chicago. Es interesante conocer cómo surgió el género y la innovación que supuso escribir un libro desde el punto de vista del delincuente.
A día de hoy, no es una novela que destaque por sus diálogos o por su narrativa, sino más bien por introducirnos en el mundo del hampa de Chicago, con su "Little Italy", sus bandas, sus policías irlandeses y toda la parafernalia que rodeaba el Chicago de los años 30.
Diría que es interesante para todo aquel que quiera conocer cómo se creó el género.

Work published in 1929 and it must be contextualized in reference to the innovation it represented at that time.
Typical crime novel about the rise and fall of a Chicago gangster. It is interesting to know how the genre and the innovation involved in writing a book from the point of view of the criminal.
To this day, it is not a novel that stands out for its dialogues or its narrative, but rather for introducing us to the world of the Chicago underworld, with its "Little Italy", its gangs, its Irish police and all the paraphernalia that surrounded Chicago in the 1930s.
I would say that it is interesting for anyone who wants to know how the genre was created.

[Emmanuel Kostakis · Rating 3 out of 5]

While W.R. Burnett’s Little Caesar sketches a gritty tale of ambition and moral decay, it lacks the cinematic punch of Mervyn LeRoy’s film adaptation. The novel’s prose feels flat, failing to evoke the tension and allure that Edward G. Robinson’s electrifying portrayal of Rico brings to life on screen. Where the book drags in introspection, the film sharpens its narrative into a raw, fast-paced spectacle that leaves you breathless. Ultimately, as Rico falls, it’s the film that delivers the final line with haunting power: “Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?”


3.4/5

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before reading 'Little Caesar', all I knew about this book was the movie version of it in the classic 1931 movie based on the novel:

https://youtu.be/qfcHKhp8YE4

I finally got around to reading ‘Little Caesar’ by W. R. Burnett. It is a classic 1929 novel about the character Cesare ‘Rico’ Bandello and his rise and fall in being the boss of a vicious Chicago gang. I think this book attracted the interest of Hollywood movie producers because it is vivid without being explicit and it is short, concise and orderly as a procedural. It was hugely popular with the public at the time of its publication.

The book tells the story of life inside of a murderous gang without being bloody or moralizing. Burnett writes in simple descriptive strokes without editorializing or much analysis. He does not care about sociology or psychological insights or backstories. All he gives readers are brief looks into characters from activities, reactions and some internal character rumination. To me, the leaders of the gangs are all wannabe 1%-ers. They are clearly without the manners of the elite, although they certainly resemble the upper-crust in all other pretensions. They maintain a class hierarchy through stoking their underlings’ selfish greed and their lust for power.

Burnett opens the novel with a Chicago neighborhood gang sitting around an office discussing who should do what during a planned robbery of a local nightclub. Rico is at this point one of the rising henchmen who works for Sam Vettori, a gang boss. The robbery, which happens in the next chapter, does not go as smoothly as Vettori hoped. The resulting stresses between the gang members, and because of police harassment, means shifts of power begin. Rico soon rises to the top position of Boss. Underlings support his takeover of the gang - a real democracy of sorts! Rico feels he is really successful when nearby neighborhood gang bosses begin treating him as an equal, calling on him for meetings of their minds and negotiating division of the spoils - you get the drug dealers in this neighborhood, I get control of the prostitutes in that neighborhood.

Of course, mistakes are made. Weaker or jealous gangbangers talk to the police or other gangs to save themselves or for money or for ambition. Some of the less loyal underlings leave town when they see a boss's ship is sinking. Being a ganglord during Prohibition was not a job with retirement benefits. Gangster molls should take note - remember to pressure your gangbangers for gifts of jewelry and money early in your demimonde relationships...



There were real late 19th- and early 20th-century big-city gangsters. There was intimidation of neighborhood business owners and political corruption, machine-gun killings, bombs, illicit speakeasies and dance clubs, gentle reader, upon which this fictional story is based. However, what had been local neighborhood and small institutional criminality became huge after Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920.

The Eighteenth Amendment was a nationwide ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. An additional bill passed by Congress, known as the Volstead Act, described the rules for enforcing the ban on alcohol. The majority of the American People had demanded Congress pass the ban on alcohol, particularly members of various institutional religions and the suffragettes.

Meanwhile, the people of America who publicly supported ‘going dry’ were privately buying alcohol wherever they could from whoever had any. It wasn’t long before some folks, especially those who already had some experience with underground organizations as well as having had networks already built for other illegal but demanded goods and services, decided to take the considerable risk of organizing into the business of buying, transporting and selling liquor. Why? They made billions of dollars. Most Americans were willing to pay the doubling, even tripling, of the cost of liquor, even knowingly to murderous illiterate gangsters. Chicago, which was close enough to Canada which still sold alcohol legally, became a distribution hub. Local Chicago gangsters eventually became loosely affiliated into a larger criminal franchise called ‘The Mob’ in real life, along with New York City gangsters and other big city gangsters.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chica...

Small neighborhood ethnic gangs in the cities were already breaking the law through their involvement in prostitution and gambling, and also occasionally robbing banks, mom-and-pop stores and restaurants (or providing so-called ‘security’ to local stores and restaurants, usually through extortion). Gangs have always specialized in the immoral vices of prostitution, drugs, and in Prohibition, alcohol, going back throughout history. But the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment outlawing liquor opened up a way for the gangs to expand what was small-time graft and criminal activity into financial empires rivaling those of the legitimate Wall Street oligarchs.

We want what we want, even if we shouldn't. If you ask me - and why should you not, gentle reader, given my somewhat feral understanding of Humanity - it only goes to show people truly are crazy. It is just a matter of degree separating us, gentle reader.


There is gangster slang galore throughout, which tickled me pink.

“Well, what’s the dirt?”

“...you birds keep quiet.”

“...they’ve never been tapped.”

“The place is lousy with jack.”

“...handle the rods.”

“Let the yaps keep their money.”

“Don’t spill nothing...”

“He’s turned yellow.”

“One funny move and I’ll blow your guts out.”

“I plugged him.”

“He’s ditching the can”

“Three dicks downstairs, boss.”

Yeah, they sure put a necktie on Gus.

“Don’t try to salve me.”

“...might give the bulls ideas.”

“He can’t stand the gaff.”

“She’s making a softie of you.”

Softie actually means a normal person. Necktie means a hanging rope. Can means car. Gat and rods means guns. Bulls are the police. Dicks are detectives. Jack is cash. Tapped is robbed. Gaff is prison/cell. Dirt is information. Salve is soothe. Yaps are people. Spill is talk.

Oddly, moll is never used!

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often billed as the first gangster novel, Little Caesar's 1929 publication - in the aftermath of the Saint Valentine's Day massacre and at the dawn of the Great Depression - launched the career of W.R. Burnett, an oft-overlooked novelist whose crime stories generated many successful and memorable film versions. Burnett, working as a night clerk at a Chicago hotel, drew inspiration from the various local delinquents he encountered which lent his dialogue an authenticity that still rings true almost a century later. The pacing issues and odd expository interludes would be smoothed out in Burnett's later works such as The Asphalt Jungle.

[Tim Orfanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ίσως το πιο καθαρόαιμο 'νουάρ' αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα της Παγκόσμιας Λογοτεχνίας, χωρίς να διαθέτει, όμως, τους σπιρτόζικους διαλόγους και την κοσμοπολίτικη ατμόσφαιρα που διακρίνει το 'Γεράκι της Μάλτας' του Χάμετ. Ο Μπερνέτ πλάθει ένα βασικό χαρακτήρα, τον 'Ρίκο', με στόφα κυνική, αμείλικτη, αποφασιστική και επικίνδυνη, ο οποίος βρίσκεται στο παλμό των γεγονότων της πόλης του Σικάγο, όπου η ποτοαπαγόρευση και το οργανωμένο έγκλημα 'διαβρώνουν' αδυσώπητα το μυαλό και τη ψυχή.

Το 1ο μέρος του βιβλίου είναι πιο αργό και με λιγότερο ξεκάθαρη δομή, ενώ το 2ο έχει μέτρο, οικονομία και αρκετή αγωνία. Ένα από τα μειονεκτήματα που υπάρχουν είναι οι πολλοί χαρακτήρες, κάποιοι από τους οποίους είναι 'επίπεδοι' και παρόμοιοι μεταξύ τους - ελάχιστοι έχουν ξεχωριστό ενδιαφέρον, ενώ δεν 'ξεδιπλώνονται' επαρκώς. Ανεξάρτητα από αυτό, αποτελεί χαρακτηριστικότατο παράδειγμα 'Γκανγκστερικής' Λογοτεχνίας που εκφράζει το μισαλλόδοξο και ωφελιμιστικό πνεύμα των Η.Π.Α. των τελών της δεκαετίας του '20.

Στο ρόλο του 'Μικρού Καίσαρα', ο Έντουαρντ Τ. Ρόμπινσον 'έγραψε' ιστορία, ενώ το βιβλίο έκανε μεγάλη εμπορική επιτυχία. Πέρα από όλα αυτά, όμως, η μετάφραση και η επιμέλεια του βιβλίου παρουσιάζουν αρκετά προβλήματα.

Βαθμολογία: 4,2/5 ή 8,4/10.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burnett’s 1929 novel, “Little Caesar” is best known as the 1931 movie starring Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbank, Jr. It became known as the quintessential gangster movie.

Set in 1920’s Chicago, “Little Caesar” derives its title from the name of the rising young although short in stature gangster Caesar Rico. It is told in short, terse chapters of a fateful club robbery and the rise and fall of Sam Vettori, the older gangster who quickly loses his nerve and the young upstart Rico who suddenly and forcefully takes over with a take-no-prisoners attitude.

The novel starts out as a caper novel. Vettori, ” big man, fat as a hog, with a dark, oily complexion, kinky black hair and a fat, aquiline face,” gathers his troops around in the back room of his club, Club Palermo. These include Otero the Greek, Tony Passa, Joe Massara, and Rico his lieutenant. Otero, we are told, sat immobile and said nothing, win or lose. Joe was vain of his resemblance to the late Rudolph Valentino. Tony was a young kid, robust and rosy, scarcely twenty years old. But Rico, “sat with his hat tilted over his eyes, his pale, thin face slightly drawn, his fingers tapping. Rico always played to win.” “Rico was a simple man. He loved but three things: himself, his hair and his gun. He took excellent care of all three.”

Vettori wants them to take over the Casa Alvarado, which only banked once or twice a week and was careless “because they’ve never been tapped. It’s easy.” He tells them there is a safe even a baby could crack. He tells Tony to get a fast car, Rico and Otero to handle the rods, and Joe to be the inside guy, all dressed up, and appearing to be one of the regular clients. It will be New Years’ Eve at midnight when everyone is busy. He warns Rico that he will have a rod, but not to use it, because “The Big Boy can’t fix murder. He can fix anything but murder.”

Of course, the minute they are warned not to use the guns, it doesn’t take a very astute reader to realize that the guns will come out blazing and something will go very wrong. Rico shoots down a Chicago bull (meaning police officer), Courtney. And everything turns sour after that. Tony wraps the car around a pole and turns “yellow.” Not trusting him, the kid is taken off the board. Joe decides its too violent for him and disappears into civilian world.

But the split of the loot is the big turning point as Rico steps up and says he doesn’t like the split. All of a sudden, it’s Rico, backed by Otero, who is in the ascendancy and “Rico’s victory is complete.” By the time the next banquet comes up, it is Rico at the head of the table with Otero as his lieutenant with the backing of “Big Boy.” And, Vettori quickly fading into the background.

The remainder of the novel focuses on the rise of Rico from nothing to a power figure and then his eventual fall from grace as he takes off alone on the run without anyone in his corner. Burnett’s writing is crisp and some of his chapters are barely half a page. The dialogue is always spot on. The storyline never wavers but remains tightly focused.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*. The half star for the final 5 chapters or so. All before it was just OK.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Caesar is considered to be the first American gangster novel, highly innovative for the time for its social realism in depicting how a gang was run and organised, their crimes and on-going struggles with the law. He subsequently converted the book into a screenplay and it was made into a movie (1931), also considered the first classic Gangster film. In total he wrote over 40 novels and the screenplays for over 50 movies. The plot for Little Caesar is very linear, telling the story of the rise and fall of a hardnosed, ambitious gangster, who quickly moves up the ranks due to his daring and ruthlessness. The prose and storytelling is tight and expressive, the pace kept high, and the reader is quickly hooked in through the action sequences punctuated by Rico’s manoeuvrings. The story lacks the depth and sophistication of later gangster tales, but is nonetheless an interesting and engaging read.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard to believe that W. R. Burnett did not write LITTLE CAESAR with Edward G. Robinson in mind. The movie is so indelible, and Rico's speech is so evocative of Robinson, that the one seems to be entwined with the other. The narrative flows like a slide show, with glimpses into the rise and fall of one gangster. It gives the novel a quick pace and focuses on the suddenness of the changes in Rico's life. Burnett is often praised for his characterizations. What we learn about Rico is mostly through asides that Burnett throws out every now and then. There is real humor in the book too, especially the gangster's banquet, where the entertainment consists of whistling loudly, walking on one's hands, and a fistfight. The book flies by so quickly that it is notable that the actions consists of one crime only. Much of what we know of gangster fiction comes from this book. It loses a point because the dialogue is rather dated, but it is an enjoyable read.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small-time thug rises quickly through the ranks of a 1920s gang in Chicago, see?

I liked this quite a bit. The writing is really spare and direct, which has the effect here of wondering what exactly is going on in any scene--but in a good way. Is X going to stab Y in the back, or is he loyal? There's not enough subtext to pick up on clues...it could go either way. I love it when technique and story line up, and it works well here.

I didn't care for the ending, which drags on after the rest of the story has such a fast pace, and it loses the book a star. But still a good read. Recommend for crime/suspense readers as well as people who like tales of the 1920s.

[Dimitri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this the end of Rico ?
Movie buffs in the 21st century love backwards. W.R. Burnett packed 160 pages of hard-boiled slang before Edward G. Robinson & Humphrey Bogart whitescreened it into immortality.

This familiar rise-and-fall story begins somewhere in the middle and is not fully fleshed out, but I imagine in 1929 people simply pictured Capone's press.

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an annotated version of this book within Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s.

Little Caesar is the first major gangster novel, published in 1929. It was made into a famous 1931 movie--and essentially created the gangster stereotype (one I became most familiar with through Bugs Bunny cartoons). The book itself is an interesting study on the 'voice' of a book, as the author goes deep into gangster lingo. At the end of my edition, the editor included a foreword that the author wrote in the 1950s about the writing and rejection process behind the book. He made a conscious choice to strip away adjectives to make the prose bloody and blunt. It works. The book doesn't try to make you like its characters--it just shows them as they are. I was grateful to have the annotations to help me parse the lingo and explain details about Chicago and guns of the period.

I never would have expected to like the book this much, but it fascinated me. It shows the era with all its ugliness and racism and dames and plates of spaghetti with wine. Now I want to watch the movie to compare.

[Jim Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

First novel to tell a crime story completely from the POV of the gangsters. Hammett was still writing stories about the Continental Op and the POV of the detective. I would assume that Rico was loosely based on Capone and when this was written Capone probably hadn't been arrested although his arrest probably coincided with this book hitting the bookshelves. It's a good story told in a linear fashion with not much introspection until Rico hits the skids near the end. I can just see Edward G. Robinson as Rico saying "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?"

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only novel by WRB my local library had was his final one. I tore through it and immediately ordered this, his first.

"Is this the end of Rico?"

We should all know the famous closing line of the film (and book) and the 1001 caricatures of Edward G Robinson, but the novel upon which it is based offers an equally moving and more subtle story than the film. Better than a potboiler but not quite literature, I look forward to digging deeper into Burnett's catalog.

[Βρόσγος Άντυ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Υποδειγματικό νουάρ-γκανγκστερικο, ένα από τα πρώτα αν όχι το πρώτο του είδους που έτυχε και συγκλονιστικής μεταφοράς στη μεγάλη οθόνη ανοίγοντας τον δρόμο για σπουδαίες ταινίες όπως ο Νονός, τα Καλά παιδιά κλπ.
Υψηλής έντασης βιβλίο με σκοτεινή ατμόσφαιρα που περιγράφει με ρεαλισμό την Αμερική στα τέλη της δεκαετίας του 1920.
Κεντρικός ήρωας ο Ρίκο, ένας Ιταλός μικροκακοποιος που ξεκίνησε από το τίποτα ληστεύοντας πρατήρια βενζίνης και έφτασε να αγγίζει την κορυφή του υποκόσμου.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ένα βιβλίο που πιθανά (και αν κρίνω από την ταινία που βγήκε πολύ σύντομα μετά την έκδοση) είναι ορόσημο για την εποχή και το είδος, αλλά στην συγκεκριμένη έκδοση αδικείται πολύ από την φριχτή μετάφραση και την ανύπαρκτη επιμέλεια του εκδότη.

[Geert Daelemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

First gangster novel ever - a classic

Imagine yourself being flown back in time to the late 1930's and dropped of into a dark and lonely alley on the north side of Chicago, commonly known as Little Italy. This area, ruled by the mob, forms the setting for Little Caesar, world's first gangster novel.

Sam Vettori is one of the toughest gang-bosses of Little Italy, but his days are counted. A new ambitious predator is on the verge of throwing Sam from his throne. Cesare Bandello, commonly known a 'Rico', is that guy. On more than one area has Rico proven to be Sam's superior, but on pulling the strings Sam stays the expert. That's why both decide to co-operate. But when a robbery turns bad -a captain of the police gets killed- everyone starts fending for themselves.

Little Caesar is simply a masterpiece. Not only because it is the first of its kind and it gave birth to a whole range of gangster fiction, but also because the peculiar way it is composed. Although it is written in an almost objective and factual style -almost like in a newspaper-, it still succeeds in getting the reader emotionally involved into the action. The action itself, of which there is plenty, is being reported in a very compact narrative, which gives the story a fast and suspenseful pace.

One warning though: the book contains quite some thirties-slang, which might disturb the inexperienced reader. Do you know what happens if someone turns yellow, for example?

[Theobald Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people call Little Caesar the first modern crime novel. That may be. I read it for another reason: it was written in 1929 from the point of view of gangsters in Chicago, the site of my next mystery. I learned a lot I can use in my story.
The plot is fairly predictable. Young hoodlum gets worse and (SPOILER ALERT) dies in a hail of gunfire. What interested me most was the language. My story is set in 1924 and Little Caesar was written in 1929, but that’s close enough for me to rely on the language. Here are some phrases I’ll try to work into my narrative:

*What’s the dirt?

*Hand the boy some dough and he’ll spill the news.

*swell people (for rich people)

*gangsters look down on “saps” and “softies”

*dame (I wasn’t sure this term was in use quite that early)

*She’s an up and up girl

*She’s the real thing

*a cup of Java

*hijackers

I also picked up a few tips on gangster clothing. One of the gangsters, Rico, was described as wearing a striped suit, “dead black with a narrow pink stripe. The color scheme was further complicated by a pale blue shirt and an orange and white striped tie adorned with a ruby pin.” Gives me some idea about how they dressed.

The book was made into a movie of the same name in 1931, starring Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. I watched that too.

[Larry Piper · Rating 2 out of 5]

The classic gangster book, which became a famous movie starring Edward G. Robinson. This wasn't a particularly well-written book, from a literary point of view, and it seems rather cliched today, but I'm guessing it was more-or-less the genesis of the gangster cliches.

Basically, it's the story of a tough guy who worked his way up in the Chicago gangster pantheon. Then he was identified and became a fugitive, eventually ending back in Toledo, where he'd begun his life of crime. He finds it horrible not to be a big cheese, and eventually becomes one in Toledo again, but at the cost of identifying himself. Thus, he is soon faced with the quandary of whether to be taken dead or alive.

I dunno. Other than for historical reasons, I don't see much point in taking up this book. It was ok, and short, but didn't seem imaginative.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1929's Little Caesar, author W. R. Burnett, who had in a minor way infiltrated the Chicago underworld, strove to capture the career criminal, his milieu, and his idiom. Much of what was innovative in 1929 may seem quaint today; as a result, it can be easy to miss that Burnett was fomenting a revolution in crime fiction that would culminate 45 years later in the works of George V. Higgins and Elmore Leonard. But the highest praise for Little Caesar is that it is still a potent read today. The story of the young gangster, Rico, moves quickly, but because Burnett values language and character over plot, readers may want to force themselves to slow down. Little Caesar's language is so skillfully terse that it encourages speedreading.

[Qt · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Little Caesar" was, I believe, the inspiration for the 1931 gangster film of the same name, starring Edward G. Robinson. There are a few differences between the book and movie, but the plot is the same, and chronicles the rise of the gangster Rico. It took me a bit to get into the swing of the writing style--things are shown, rather than described, and the motives and thoughts of the characters are not always evident. But, being a fan of this era, and also of 30's gangster movies, I really got into it and enjoyed the lingo and gritty style.

[C. James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider this the best "gangster" novel I've read. It launched Burnett's writing career and set the style for this type of fiction and film. Nobody seems to read Burnett anymore though this one sold well over 5 million copies. First published in 1929, Burnett's prose still crackles when some of the contemporary writing by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett creaks.

My favorite edition is the 1956-7 reissue with the new introduction by Burnett, looking back on how he came to write this watershed genre novel.

[Ffiamma · Rating 3 out of 5]

ascesa e declino di rico, piccolo gangster italoamericano nella little italy di chicago. secco e rapido, spietato e senza fronzoli.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hidden gem of hardboiled literature. And I learned a couple of new 1920s-era slang words, which is saying something, considering I considered myself quite well-versed in that particular area.

[Γιώργος-Νεκτάριος Παναγιωτίδης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αυτό το βιβλίο είναι ένα από τα "κλασικότερα" στο είδος του, δηλαδή στο "σκληρό", αμερικάνικο αστυνομικό.
Ο συγγραφέας μας βάζει αμέσως στο κλίμα, παρουσιάζοντάς μας μιας συμμορία στο Σικάγο, που αποτελείται περισσότερο από... Ιταλούς και γενικώς νοτιοευρωπαίους με επικεφαλής το Σαμ Βετόρι, ένα μεσήλικα επιχειρηματία-ιδιοκτήτη επιχείρησης.
Το βιβλίο επικεντρώνεται στον υπαρχηγό του Βετόρι, ο οποίος έχοντας βαρύνει... γενικώς, δεν έχει το νεύρο και οπωσδήποτε όχι την αυτοπειθαρχία του Ρίκο. Ο Ρίκο είναι "ανερχόμενος αστέρας" αλλά και κυνικός και εγωιστής.

Το βιβλίο αυτό έχει μια γραμμική δομή, έχει αρκετή ως πολλή αγωνία, είναι πάρα πολύ καλογραμμένο για το είδος του και γενικώς έχει αυτό το κάτι άλλο αστάθμητο που κάνει σπουδαίο και αξιανάγνωστο ένα βιβλίο και μάλιστα νουάρ: νιώθεις την έμπνευση του συγγραφέα του, κάτι που λείπει από αρκετούς... ανερχόμενους αστέρες του είδους στις μέρες μας.
Θα μπορούσα να του βάλω και 5, εντούτοις του βάζω 4.25, επειδή δεν είχε αυτό το κάτι παραπάνω σε επίπεδο υπόθεσης, παρά το ότι η υπάρχουσα ήταν εξαιρετικά δοσμένη και με παλμό.

[Chris Cowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terse, sparse piece of late 20s pulp fiction – the rise and fall of Rico. Reminded me above all of James Elroy. It’s cold, heartless stuff – we know nothing of Rico beyond his ruthless drive and ambition. Seminal and influential, be that on the likes of Chandler and Hammett, but also on Faulkner and Graham Greene. I’ve immediately started reading Asphalt Jungle, also by WR Burnett

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very inconsistent, and drags in parts, but Burnett provides bountiful energy and a keen interest in human motivations.

[Mazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cesare Bandello, dit Rico, modeste membre d'un gang italien de Chicago, est un petit homme simple.

Il n'aime que trois choses au monde : "lui-même, ses cheveux et son revolver".

À l'issue d'un hold-up commis par sa bande, il abat froidement un policier et profite de l'incident pour prendre par la force la tête du gang.

Devenu chef, le petit César affiche sa véritable personnalité et règne en despote.

Ambitieux et arrogant, il s'attire vite la haine des bandes rivales et de ses propres hommes. La chute n'en sera que plus dure !


Publiée en 1929, cette histoire d'un fils d'immigrant italien qui voulait vivre le rêve américain constitue un événement. Ce premier livre de Burnett marque en effet la naissance du roman de gangsters, un genre prolifique dont le cinéma va vite s'emparer.

Ce roman noir est aussi un merveilleux exemple d'écriture objective : un procédé littéraire qui, pour dépeindre la psychologie du personnage, utilise uniquement ses paroles et la description de son comportement extérieur.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sort of a whim checkout on my online library--I was searching for some interesting fiction and had been talking to my boyfriend about this flick and he had not seen it--so then I thought, "I wonder if their is a book available!?"...and there was. I was surprised--this was much better than I expected!! Ran along like a train and you just did not want to put it down--I have the flick in my Netflix queue because the dialogue in the book was easily as snappy as the movie and just as fun. I am now onto Asphalt Jungle--on top of being a really great writer, Burnett wrote every cool movie!

[Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Criminal style

Tutti i piccoli imperatori vogliono fare qualcosa per sentirsi grandi. Rico Bandello non è da meno. Criminale di strada dal grilletto facile, aspira a lasciare il segno nella metropoli, Chicago. E ce la fa, diventa un capo banda rispettato dai più. Ma la vita del gangster non è facile, basta una soffiata alla polizia per ritrovarsi un nessuno. E come un nessuno Rico non ci sa stare, a costo della vita.
Romanzo seminale e vivace, da cui nel 1931 è stato tratto l'omonimo film con il grande Edward G. Robinson.

Voto: 3 ½