Pretty Boy : The Life & Times Of Charles Arthur Floyd

Rating:
Summary: A very interesting and well-researched book.
Review: I became interested in "Pretty Boy Floyd" when I found out his mother was distantly related to my family and I was researching my family. He was raised 25 miles from where I live until his family moved to Oklahoma. There was mention of the town in the book and some of the mischief he got in to. The house they lived in still stands. I was able to use some of the information from the book to go in my family tree. The book was very well written and seemed to be accurate in the account given of his life. I felt like I had known him from the reading of this book and feel he was unjustly killed at the end. His mother was treated unfairly about the way the funeral took care of his body. The pictures in the book of his family in the younger days were very good pictures. I didn't especially care for the ones at the funeral home where he was more or less put on display. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the history and hardships that occurred during the early part of the century.I am sure I will read this book again. It was hard to put down when I read it the first time.

Rating:
Summary: A very interesting and well-researched book.
Review: I became interested in "Pretty Boy Floyd" when I found out his mother was distantly related to my family and I was researching my family. He was raised 25 miles from where I live until his family moved to Oklahoma. There was mention of the town in the book and some of the mischief he got in to. The house they lived in still stands. I was able to use some of the information from the book to go in my family tree. The book was very well written and seemed to be accurate in the account given of his life. I felt like I had known him from the reading of this book and feel he was unjustly killed at the end. His mother was treated unfairly about the way the funeral took care of his body. The pictures in the book of his family in the younger days were very good pictures. I didn't especially care for the ones at the funeral home where he was more or less put on display. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the history and hardships that occurred during the early part of the century.I am sure I will read this book again. It was hard to put down when I read it the first time.

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT BOOK
Review: I JUST FINISHED THIS BOOK AND I'M SORRY IT'S OVER. IT WAS INCREDIBLY INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE. OF INTEREST TO ME WAS HOW CLOSE CHARELS FLOYD LIVED TO MY RELATIVES IN OKLAHOMA. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANY ONE INTERESTED IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

Rating:
Summary: Too Sweeping, Lack of Objectivity
Review: The first major biography of Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd is a sweeping "life and times" effort, a well-researched opus that concentrates as much on early 1900's-Depression era America as on a straight biography of Floyd. It's too bad because Floyd himself deserved a more detailed treatment, as well as a more objective one. Much of the information on Floyd came from family and friends and, while this is interesting and informative, one gets the distinct impression that Wallis got too close to his subject, blinded perhaps by the folkloric image of Floyd as a Southwestern Depression Robin Hood. This is somewhat understandable. Floyd was falsely accused in his own day of many atrocious crimes, such as the "Young brothers' massacre," but the fact remains that he was a ruthless killer as well as a bank robber and that a preponderance of evidence exists suggesting Floyd's guilt in the Kansas City Union Station massacre. Wallis ignores this evidence, accessible in thousands of pages of FBI files he claims to have read, and instead builds straws for Floyd's innocence in this crime. Such as relying on the testimony of "Blackie" Audett, a minor bank burglar of the period and notorious liar, who claimed to have witnessed the massacre but whose story is shot full of holes. Audett was in prison at the time of the shooting and one of the men he named as an "actual" killer had been murdered over two years earlier. This doesn't stop Wallis in his determination to vindicate his Robin Hood idol. In all, it's a nice professional work--a thick book with some nice photos, a bibliography and an index. It could have been much better, as evidenced by the more recent The Life and Death of Pretty Boy Floyd by Jeffery King.

Rating:
Summary: SUPERB BIO!
Review: The first major biography of Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd is a sweeping "life and times" effort, a well-researched opus that concentrates as much on early 1900's-Depression era America as on a straight biography of Floyd. It's too bad because Floyd himself deserved a more detailed treatment, as well as a more objective one. Much of the information on Floyd came from family and friends and, while this is interesting and informative, one gets the distinct impression that Wallis got too close to his subject, blinded perhaps by the folkloric image of Floyd as a Southwestern Depression Robin Hood. This is somewhat understandable. Floyd was falsely accused in his own day of many atrocious crimes, such as the "Young brothers' massacre," but the fact remains that he was a ruthless killer as well as a bank robber and that a preponderance of evidence exists suggesting Floyd's guilt in the Kansas City Union Station massacre. Wallis ignores this evidence, accessible in thousands of pages of FBI files he claims to have read, and instead builds straws for Floyd's innocence in this crime. Such as relying on the testimony of "Blackie" Audett, a minor bank burglar of the period and notorious liar, who claimed to have witnessed the massacre but whose story is shot full of holes. Audett was in prison at the time of the shooting and one of the men he named as an "actual" killer had been murdered over two years earlier. This doesn't stop Wallis in his determination to vindicate his Robin Hood idol. In all, it's a nice professional work--a thick book with some nice photos, a bibliography and an index. It could have been much better, as evidenced by the more recent The Life and Death of Pretty Boy Floyd by Jeffery King.

Rating:
Summary: SUPERB BIO!
Review: This is without question the best biography I have come across in many years. I strongly suggest anyone who has even an inkling of interest in modern American history make it a point to get this book and read it. They will not be disapponited.

Rating:
Summary: An Enjoyable Read!
Review: This was an incredibly interesting book about one of the now-forgotten characters of American history. The author does a great job in portraying Depression era Oklahoma, and how outlaws such as Pretty Boy Floyd came to be. After reading this book, it is clear that Pretty Boy Floyd was a bandit who had more in common with figures such as Jesse and Frank James than contemporary gangsters such as Al Capone. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this period of Americana. The only flaw in this book is the rather shallow characterization of Floyd himself. While not quite whitewashing Pretty Boy Floyd, the author quickly glosses over any negative characteristics while expounding on Floyd's positive traits such as his generosity and good nature. In all likelihood Floyd was a complex figure, and the book would have done greater service to his memory had it presented a more balanced view.