Billy Bathgate
E. L. Doctorow · 1931–2015 · United States
Why it matters
A Bronx teenager apprentices himself to gangster Dutch Schultz's crew just as the empire begins to collapse. Doctorow's Prohibition-era bildungsroman, narrated by a boy learning exactly how far he'll go to belong.
At a glance
historical fictioncrime & noirbildungsroman
Difficulty 5/10fast pace336 pagesA single confident first-person voice carries a fast, violent plot.
Where to go next
E. L. Doctorow · 1975RagtimeLvl 6Fast paced
E. L. Doctorow · 1985World's FairLvl 3Medium pace
Susan Sontag · 2000In AmericaLvl 6Slow burn
William T. Vollmann · 2005Europe CentralLvl 9Slow burn
Thomas Pynchon · 1966The Crying of Lot 49Lvl 8Medium pace
Steven Millhauser · 1996Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American DreamerLvl 5Medium pace