Give a gift that speaks volumes! SHOP GIFTS

Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie & Clyde

Written by:
Jeff Guinn
Narrated by:
Jonathan Hogan

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
17
Narrator
4
Release Date
June 12, 2009
Duration
16 hours 34 minutes
Summary
Previous books and films have emphasized the supposed glamour of America's most notorious criminal couple, thus contributing to ongoing mythology. The real story is completely different—and far more fascinating.With newly discovered material, bestselling author Jeff Guinn tells the real tale of two kids from a filthy Dallas slum who fell in love and then willingly traded their lives for a brief interlude of excitement and, more importantly, fame. The timing for their first heist could not have been better, when most Americans, reeling from the Great Depression, were desperate for escapist entertainment. Thanks to newsreels, true crime magazines, and new-fangled wire services that transmitted scandalous photos of Bonnie smoking a cigar to every newspaper in the nation, the Barrow Gang members almost instantly became household names. In the minds of the public, they were cool, calculating bandits who robbed banks and killed cops with equal impunity.Nothing could have been further from the truth. Clyde and Bonnie were perhaps the most inept crooks ever, and their two-year crime spree was as much a reign of error as it was of terror. Lacking the sophistication to plot robberies of big-city banks, the Barrow Gang preyed mostly on small mom-and-pop groceries and service stations. Even at that, they often came up empty-handed and were reduced to breaking into gum machines for meal money. Both were crippled, Clyde from cutting off two of his toes while in prison and Bonnie from a terrible car crash caused by Clyde's reckless driving. Constantly on the run from the law, they lived like animals, camping out in their latest stolen car, bathing in creeks, and dining on cans of cold beans and Vienna sausages. Yet theirs was a genuine love story. Their devotion to each other was as real as their overblown reputation as criminal masterminds was not.Now, thanks in great part to surviving Barrow and Parker family members and collectors of criminal memorabilia who provided Jeff Guinn with access to never-before-published material, we finally have the real story of Bonnie and Clyde and their troubled times, delivered with cinematic sweep and unprecedented insight by a masterful storyteller.“Engaging … reads like a road story—two kids from the Dallas slums in a fast car, headed to nowhere good.”—The New Yorker
Reviews
Profile Avatar
Jeffrey E.

Have listened to this twice. Guinn done his homework and it has yielded great results. Very well organized.

Profile Avatar
Marcus G.

Nice historical re-alignment of reality. This results in a repetitive recounting of Clyde and Bonnie’s daily life, which-indeed- counter the popular conception. That said, book OK-written and read.

Profile Avatar
MLJackson

Narrator leaves "s" sounds off the ends of words about half the time. Extremely distracting and annoying. Dallas becomes "Dalla." Guns becomes "Gun" when a plural, not a singular noun, is obviously what the author wrote. It's incessant! Boo!!!

1 book added to cart
Subtotal
$29.99
View Cart