American Desperado
Encyclopedia
American Desperado is a 2011
book written by journalist Evan Wright
and Jon Roberts
, a subject of the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys
.
, wrote, "Imagine if Mister Kurtz from HEART OF DARKNESS sat down with Dick Cavett for a little chat about the nature of good and evil, empathy, fatherhood, violence, drugs, power, self-knowledge, women, family, the hero versus the anti-hero, freedom, imprisonment... Reading AMERICAN DESPERADO is like being in a sumptuous ballroom somewhere and somebody lets loose a cobra across the cold, shiny floor – ‘Oops, there it goes, watch the hell out!’ Jon Roberts, the hero/anti-hero of this tale, is a shape-shifter: you can't really draw a bead on him even though his voice and Evan Wright's voice are singular and bell-clear; the story is a giant pane of smoked glass the color of silver and violet, and the story seems to change colors as you read. What is true is that, try as you might, you can't really put this book down."
Jerry Stahl
described it: "American Desperado is the first great crime book of the 21st Century. Dangerous, darkly hilarious, hair-raising, and terrifically written, Wright's prose spills over with the kind of insane, brilliantly rendered detail and dialogue that make you want to call people at four in the morning and read out loud. Imagine a literary mash-up of Capote and Carl Hiassen, Joan Didion and Elmore Leonard - with something all the author's own: the heart and guts to place himself in the real-life world of non-stop menace and imminent violence, riding side by side with a killer so matter-of-fact vicious that murder itself is as unremarkable as the tasty breakfasts he loves to cook for houseguests. Fans wondering how Evan Wright would top himself after his balls-out performance in the Iraq War classic GENERATION KILL can rest assured. In this portrait of the original Cocaine Cowboy, Wright has once again walked in the shadow of death and emerged, not just alive, but with a story so compelling, so flat-out, what-happens-next riveting you can forget about sleeping, eating or talking to loved ones until you claw your way to the last indelible page... How fearless and brilliant a writer is Evan Wright? If Hemingway were alive, he'd probably want to punch him in the face. "
2011 in literature
The year 2011 will involve some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tomas Tranströmer wins the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature.*Jennifer Egan wins the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel A Visit From the Goon Squad.-Literature:*T.C...
book written by journalist Evan Wright
Evan Wright
Evan Wright is an American writer, journalist, author and television writer and producer. He has reported extensively on subcultures for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. His latest work is American Desperado, a book he co-wrote with Jon Roberts, who was featured in the documentary the Cocaine...
and Jon Roberts
Jon Roberts
Jon Pernell Roberts is a noted drug trafficker who operated in the Miami area and was an associate of Colombia's Medellín Cartel during the growth phase in cocaine trafficking, 1975-1985. After his arrest, he was able to avoid a lengthy prison sentence by becoming a cooperating witness and...
, a subject of the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys
Cocaine Cowboys
Cocaine Cowboys is a 2006 documentary film directed by Billy Corben and produced by Alfred Spellman and Billy Corben through their Miami-based media studio Rakontur. The film explores the rise of cocaine and resulting crime epidemic that swept the American city of Miami, Florida in the 1970s and...
.
Publisher's Book Description
In 2008 veteran journalist Evan Wright began a series of conversations with criminal Jon Roberts. Those conversations would last three years, during which time Wright came to realize that Roberts was much more than the de-facto “transportation chief” of the Medellin Cartel during the 1980s, much more than a facilitator of a national drug epidemic. Roberts seemed to be a prodigy of criminality, but one with a remarkable self-awareness and a fierce desire to protect his son from following the same path. American Desperado is Roberts’ no-holds-barred account of being born into Mafia royalty, witnessing his first murder at the age of seven, becoming a soldier in Vietnam, returning to New York to become—at age 22—one of the city’s leading nightclub impresarios, then journeying to Miami where in a few short years he would rise to become the Medellin Cartel’s most effective smuggler. The roster of Roberts’ friends and acquaintances reads like a Who’s Who of the latter half of the 20th century and includes everyone from Jimi Hendrix, Richard Pryor, and O.J. Simpson to Carlo Gambino, Meyer Lansky, and Manuel Noriega. Nothing if not colorful, Roberts surrounded himself with beautiful women, drove his souped-up street car at a top speed of 180 miles per hour, shared his bed with a 200-pound cougar, and employed a 6”6” professional wrestler called “The Thing” as his bodyguard. Ultimately, Roberts became so powerful that he attracted the attention of the Republican Party’s leadership, was wooed by them, and even was co-opted by the CIA for which he carried out its secret agenda. Scrupulously documented and relentlessly propulsive, this collaboration between a bloodhound journalist and one of the most audacious criminals ever is a crime book that also reads like a dark social history of America.Reviews
Doug StantonDoug Stanton
Doug Stanton is an author and a founder of the Traverse City Film Festival. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and Hampshire College in Massachusetts.-Biography:...
, wrote, "Imagine if Mister Kurtz from HEART OF DARKNESS sat down with Dick Cavett for a little chat about the nature of good and evil, empathy, fatherhood, violence, drugs, power, self-knowledge, women, family, the hero versus the anti-hero, freedom, imprisonment... Reading AMERICAN DESPERADO is like being in a sumptuous ballroom somewhere and somebody lets loose a cobra across the cold, shiny floor – ‘Oops, there it goes, watch the hell out!’ Jon Roberts, the hero/anti-hero of this tale, is a shape-shifter: you can't really draw a bead on him even though his voice and Evan Wright's voice are singular and bell-clear; the story is a giant pane of smoked glass the color of silver and violet, and the story seems to change colors as you read. What is true is that, try as you might, you can't really put this book down."
Jerry Stahl
Jerry Stahl
Jerry Stahl is an American novelist and screenwriter, He is best known for his memoir of addiction Permanent Midnight. A film adaptation followed with Ben Stiller in the lead role....
described it: "American Desperado is the first great crime book of the 21st Century. Dangerous, darkly hilarious, hair-raising, and terrifically written, Wright's prose spills over with the kind of insane, brilliantly rendered detail and dialogue that make you want to call people at four in the morning and read out loud. Imagine a literary mash-up of Capote and Carl Hiassen, Joan Didion and Elmore Leonard - with something all the author's own: the heart and guts to place himself in the real-life world of non-stop menace and imminent violence, riding side by side with a killer so matter-of-fact vicious that murder itself is as unremarkable as the tasty breakfasts he loves to cook for houseguests. Fans wondering how Evan Wright would top himself after his balls-out performance in the Iraq War classic GENERATION KILL can rest assured. In this portrait of the original Cocaine Cowboy, Wright has once again walked in the shadow of death and emerged, not just alive, but with a story so compelling, so flat-out, what-happens-next riveting you can forget about sleeping, eating or talking to loved ones until you claw your way to the last indelible page... How fearless and brilliant a writer is Evan Wright? If Hemingway were alive, he'd probably want to punch him in the face. "