This book is an interesting peek into the lives of gangsters in 1930's New York. Billy Bathgate was born in the Bronx slums, living a fatherless and reckless life, until he is befriended by famous gangster, Dutch Schultz. Schultz shows him the inner workings of crime, killing, gambling and bootlegging. Billy latches on to this less-than-admirable life as way to scratch some type of existence for his insane mother and himself. An opportunist and a quick study, Billy seems to be numb to the unethical lifestyle of a gangster. That is, until he falls in love with Schultz's girlfriend.

I doubt few could argue Doctorow's brilliance as a writer. Even with a neatly tied-up ending, his story about a young boy, love and relationships transports you to the very setting of the story. Admittedly, I was thrown off by the many run-on sentences and stream of consciousness writing style, but I believe it was a necessary literary trick used by Doctorow to make you feel like you knew exactly what Billy is thinking.

Like Ragtime, this novel is a snapshot of the lives of people living our American history. When you finish Billy Bathgate, you will have a better understanding of the Great Depression, Prohibition and the economic impacts of the 1930's. If you like historical fiction mixed with a social commentary, then you may find Billy Bathgate to be a good selection for you.