Blue Blood: Edward Conlon - Softcover

Conlon, Edward

Softcover

ISBN 10: 009194032X ISBN 13: 9780091940324

Publisher: Ebury Press, 2011

Synopsis

'Superb. The most stunning memoir ever written about the cop world'
Joseph Wambaugh

'Beautiful and inspiring, terrifying and heartbreaking'
James Frey

'More chilling than even the most realistic cop dramas on TV'
People

'A great book...with the testimonial force equal to that of Michael Herr's Dispatches' Time

Blue Blood is the fast-paced, insider story of Edward Conlon's career in the New York Police Department. Conlon tells of his first days as a rookie, walking a beat in the south Bronx through his time in narcotics and his ascent to gold shield detective. Conlon is the product of generations involved in law enforcement, good cops and bad, and he paints a vivid portrait of the teeming street life of the city, in all its horror and splendour. It's all here: adrenaline-fuelled chases, toxic police politics, crackhead informants and police camaraderie. The pace is relentless, the stories hypnotic, the scope nothing less than monumental.

About this title

Review:

As a Harvard graduate and regular writer for The New Yorker, Edward Conlon is a little different from most of his fellow New York City cops. And the stories he tells in his compelling memoir Blue Blood are miles away from the commonly told Hollywood-style police tales that are always action-packed but rarely tethered to reality. While there is action here, there's also political hassle, the rich and often troubling history of a department not unfamiliar with corruption, and the day-to-day life of people charged with preserving order in America's largest city. Conlon's book is, in part, a memoir as he progresses from being a rookie cop working the beat at troubled housing projects to assignments in the narcotics division to eventually becoming a detective. But it's also the story of his family history within the enormous NYPD as well as the evolving role of the police force within the city.

Conlon relates the controversies surrounding the somewhat familiar shooting of Amadou Diallou and the abuse, at the hands of New York cops, of Abner Louima. But being a cop himself, Conlon lends insight and nuance to these issues that could not possibly be found in the newspapers. And as an outstanding writer, he draws the reader into that world. In the book's most remarkable passage, Conlon tells of the grim but necessary work done at the Fresh Kills landfill, sifting through the rubble and remains left in the wake of the World Trade Centre attacks on 9/11 (a section originally published in The New Yorker).

In many ways, Blue Blood comes to resemble the world of New York City law enforcement that Conlon describes: both are expansive, sprawling, multi-dimensional and endlessly fascinating. And Conlon's writing is perfectly matched to his subject: always lively, keenly observant and possessing a streetwise energy. --John Moe, Amazon.com

Review:

"A high watermark of realism and insider knowledge ... Read this outstanding book" (Sunday Times)

"A dazzling epic of street life ... vibrant and hilarious. Conlon is a cop's cop" (Washington Post)

"Superb. The most stunning memoir ever written about the cop world" (Joseph Wambaugh)

"Beautiful and inspiring, terrifying and heartbreaking" (James Frey)

"More chilling than even the most realistic cop dramas on TV" (People)

About this edition

• Publisher: Ebury Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 009194032X
• ISBN 13: 9780091940324
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 576