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Al Capone by Deirdre Bair: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on October 26, 2016
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , , | 3 Comments

Al Capone by Deirdre BairAl Capone by Deirdre Bair


Thanks Lauren Weber of Doubleday Marketing, I am giving away one print copy of Al Capone by Deirdre Bair.

Description of Al Capone by Deirdre Bair


From a National Book Award-winning biographer, the first complete life of legendary gangster Al Capone to be produced with the cooperation of his family, who provided the author with exclusive access to personal testimony and archival documents. 

Born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York, to poor, Italian immigrant parents, Al Capone went on to become the most infamous gangster in American history. In 1925, during the height of Prohibition, Capone’s multi-million-dollar Chicago bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling operation dominated the organized-crime scene. His competition with rival gangs was brutally violent, a long-running war that crested with the shocking St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929. Through it all, and despite the best efforts of law enforcement and the media elite, Capone remained above the fray. Federal income-tax evasion was the strongest charge that could be made to stick, and in 1931 he was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. After serving six-and-a-half years, mostly in Alcatraz, a severely impaired Capone, badly damaged by neurosyphillis, was released to live out his final years with his family in Miami. From his heyday to the present moment, Al Capone’s life has gripped the public imagination, and his gangster persona has been immortalized in the countless movies and books inspired by his exploits.

But who was the man behind the legend? Capone loved to tell tall tales that perpetuated his mystique; newspapers loved him and frequently embellished or fabricated stories about him to sell copies. While some remember him as fundamentally kind and good, others speak of how frightening he was, a vicious, cold-blooded killer. Was Al really such a quotable wit? Did he really shower the poor with hundred-dollar bills and silver dollars from the window of his bulletproof car? Did he really keep a bevy of mistresses ensconced in his hotel headquarters in Chicago? Writing with exclusive access to Capone’s descendants, Deirdre Bair finally gets at the truth behind this eternally fascinating man, who was equal parts charismatic mobster, doting father, and calculating monster.

Praise for Al Capone by Deirdre Bair


“Deirdre Bair’s enticing new gangster biography knocks it out of the park. In the hands of a master life-storyteller, Al Capone’s brief, explosive career seems as all-American as apple pie and sawed-off shotguns. Fans of The Godfather, The Sopranos, or Boardwalk Empire are sure to find the book addictive.”—Marion Meade, author of Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin

 “Beautifully researched and immensely readable, Al Capone peels away layers to reveal a consistently surprising and exquisitely complex portrait of the man behind the legend.”—Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City

“A definitive biography of ‘Public Enemy #1’ … Bair has written perhaps the last word on Capone. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal

About Deirdre Bair


Al Capone by Deirdre Bair

© Brennan Cavanaugh

DEIRDRE BAIR received the National Book Award for Samuel Beckett: A Biography. Her biographies of Simone de Beauvoir and Carl Jung were finalists for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Simone de Beauvoir biography was chosen by The New York Times as a Best Book of the Year. Her biography of Anaïs Nin and her most recent book, Saul Steinberg: A Biography, were bothNew York Times Notable Books.

Giveaway of Al Capone by Deirdre Bair


This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on November 11, 2016 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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James Fenimore Cooper: A Life by Nick LourasJames Fenimore Cooper: A Life by Nick Louras


Thanks to Sarah-Beth Watkins of Chronos Books, I am giving away one print copy or ebook copy of James Fenimore Cooper: A Life by Nick Louras.

Description of James Fenimore Cooper: A Life by Nick Louras

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) was America s first novelist, celebrated for his masterpiece, /The Last of the Mohicans/. Over a prolific career he created a national mythology that endures to this day.

According to Daniel Webster, We may read the nation s history in his life. Yet Cooper was also a provocative figure, ultimately disillusioned with American democracy. He spent his boyhood in the wilds of the frontier, served as a merchant sailor and naval officer, traveled the courts of Europe in an age of upheaval and returned home to scandal and controversy. He conquered the literary world only to fall victim to his own fame. In the first popular biography of Cooper in a generation, historian Nick Louras brings the man and his age vividly to life.

Giveaway of James Fenimore Cooper: A Life by Nick Louras

This giveaway is open to worldwide for ebook however, print copy is restricted to the U.S. and UK only.  This giveaway ends on June 10, 2016 at midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Tiny TimEternal Troubadour by Justin Martell, with Alanna Wray McDonald


Thanks to Steve Roth of Jawbone Press, I am giving away one print copy of  Eternal Troubadour by Justin Martell.

Description of Eternal Troubadour by Justin Martell


TINY TIM was an American original, to say the least. He was a reality TV star before there was such a thing. His 1969 wedding to Miss Vicky on the Tonight Show had 40,000,000+ watch—still a huge audience today. He appeared regularly on Laugh-In, Merv Griffin, Howard Stern and many other shows. His signature song, “Tiptoe Thru The Tulips” was a worldwide smash.

Tiny was more than a caricature, he was an expert and master interpreter of early American song. While often characterized as an oddball curio his story is one of Shakespearean tragedy framed around a bizarre yet loveable public persona. After reaching the height of stardom his star began to fade and Tiny would spend the rest of his life trying to revive his career—with many of his attempts taking a turn toward the absurd.

ETERNAL TROUBADOUR: the IMPROBABLE LIFE OF TINY TIM, by Justin Martell and Alanna Wray McDonald is the most in-depth bio on Tiny ever written. Drawing on over one hundred interviews with family, friends and associates, plus access to Tiny’s diaries, which have never before made public, ETERNAL TROUBADOUR is an incredible true story of one of the most fascinating yet misunderstood figures in the history of popular music.

 “It’s the best book about Tiny Tim IMO, with far more info than the others…his story is all there, the depressing parts and the thrilling parts” —DR. DEMENTO

About Justin Martell


Justin Martell is an independent filmmaker and writer. Considered one of the world’s foremost experts on Tiny Tim, he has consulted on and contributed liner notes to two posthumous Tiny Tim releases, I’ve Never Seen A Straight Banana (Collector’s Choice, 2009) and Lost & Found: Volume 1 (Secret Seven Records, 2011). In 2013,he put out a previously unreleased Tiny Tim track on a limited-edition Edison wax cylinder, which Time magazine dubbed the ‘most retro record release ever.’

About Alanna Wray McDonald


Alanna Wray McDonald is a poet, writer, and freelance art director for film and television. She resides in Iowa and Brooklyn, New York.

Giveaway of Eternal Troubadour by Justin Martell


This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. and ends on May 6, 2016 at midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted by Rafflecopter only.

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