Evany Traver’s Reviews > Public Enemies: America's Criminal Past, 1919-1940 > Status Update

I think the most fun part about reading this to me is following the recorded parts of lives and imagining how these escapades went. Specifically, I was looking for all the passages about Pretty Boy Floyd. He'd pop up randomly, disappear for a year or two, then partner up with someone else to rob a bank or something. I can imagine it was either really fun or terrifying for Floyd after he was chased for so long.

`I wonder if the definition of American patriotism was different in the early 1900s. Not the exact definition, but the meaning. America was going through an era of gangs, thugs, and the rise of criminal activity, meaning a lot of people had to do unnamed things to survive. The meta for the average American citizen changes, I think, with each change of the country itself.

I don't know if it's wrong of me to say, but I sympathize with some of the gangsters featured in this book, especially after reading some of Al Capone's quotes and the quotes of some other criminals on the page after. It's crazy to think that their part of America was almost a completely different world to them in their era, and although their actions left an impact on America, something in me feels for them.