Reviews
" Go Down Together is thorough, precise, beautifully written, and compulsively readable. It shines a brilliant lamp on two very unusual people, and, a bonus, it richly illuminates middle America between the wars. Completely fascinating." -- Robert B. Parker, author of the Spenser novels, "Guinn cuts through the sex and gunsmoke surrounding the gangster love story of Bonnie and Clyde, and he reveals a couple of kids from the wrong side of the river who were anything but the sharpest gangsters to roam the countryside. His gritty chronicle is a welcome corrective to the affectionate portrait of the couple played by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in Arthur Penn's 1967 movie, Bonnie and Clyde , which told us much more about the rise of the Hollywood antihero than it did about the real-life criminals." -- J. Lynn Lunsford, The Wall Street Journal, "This is the best Bonnie and Clyde book I've ever seen. Three-quarters of a century after their deaths, and following a multitude of contradictory accounts by surviving participants,Go Down Togetherstill manages to lift the veil and uncover surprising new stories and details and fresh insights into both the famous outlaw lovers and the team of manhunters who brought them down. An eye-opener that will set historians and crime buffs alike talking for a long time to come."-- Rick Mattix, coauthor ofThe Complete Public Enemy Almanac, "An embracing biography of the Barrow Gang that draws us in like an old wanted poster.... Not only does Guinn maintain control of the mayhem.... the author manages to humanize the characters...while inserting them into the historical context of the times." -- Steve Bennett, San Antonio Express-News, "Guinn cuts through the sex and gunsmoke surrounding the gangster love story of Bonnie and Clyde, and he reveals a couple of kids from the wrong side of the river who were anything but the sharpest gangsters to roam the countryside. His gritty chronicle is a welcome corrective to the affectionate portrait of the couple played by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in Arthur Penn's 1967 movie,Bonnie and Clyde, which told us much more about the rise of the Hollywood antihero than it did about the real-life criminals."-- J. Lynn Lunsford,The Wall Street Journal, " Go Down Together casts a brilliant new light, not just on two hapless criminals but on the creation and then the devouring of the first American media darlings. Jeff Guinn is a great storyteller." -- Richard Ben Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life, "Forget what you've heard or read (or seen in the laughable 1967 movie) about a glamorous young couple pulling off brilliant bank robberies, outsmarting and killing their pursuers.... Jeff Guinn relates Bonnie and Clyde's heyday of robbery and killing, their remarkable flight from justice and their grisly ending in such careful detail that you might wonder if he's making it up. He isn't. Go Down Together is the product of remarkable research through letters, diaries, memoirs, police and FBI reports, and interviews with family members. Much of the material has never been made public before." -- Bob Simmons, The Seattle Times, "InGo Down Together, Bonnie and Clyde have their definitive biography.... A compelling narrative."-- Bryan Woolley,The Dallas Morning News, "An American masterpiece.... One of the best nonfiction books of the year.... Guinn fully fleshes out the legendary duo. The resulting portrait, though less attractive than the myth, is far more interesting and illuminating."-- John Sledge,Mobile Register(Alabama), "Go Down Togethercasts a brilliant new light, not just on two hapless criminals but on the creation and then the devouring of the first American media darlings. Jeff Guinn is a great storyteller."-- Richard Ben Cramer, author ofJoe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life, "Jeff Guinn details the couple's story without the Hollywood romance....Now, nearly 75 years after their careers came to a gruesome end in Louisiana, followers of this duo's run will gain true insight into the mystery behind the madness."-- Allison Barnes,Southern Living, "The true story of Bonnie and Clyde.... Intense but fascinating...rubs the gloss from the mythos and replaces it with a patina of true grit.... Guinn succeeds marvelously in re-creating the spirit of the times, the desperation of unemployment and financial ruin. It's a zeitgeist becoming chillingly familiar today, and that gives this book a wallop." -- Jackie Loohauis-Bennett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "A fine work of history.... Easily readable and includes much of the last two decades' new scholarship....Go Down Togetheris especially good at...placing Bonnie and Clyde in context."-- Bryan Burrough,The New York Times Book Review, "Forget what you've heard or read (or seen in the laughable 1967 movie) about a glamorous young couple pulling off brilliant bank robberies, outsmarting and killing their pursuers.... Jeff Guinn relates Bonnie and Clyde's heyday of robbery and killing, their remarkable flight from justice and their grisly ending in such careful detail that you might wonder if he's making it up. He isn't.Go Down Togetheris the product of remarkable research through letters, diaries, memoirs, police and FBI reports, and interviews with family members. Much of the material has never been made public before."-- Bob Simmons,The Seattle Times, "In his meticulously researchedGo Down Together, Guinn strives -- successfully -- to set the record straight.... Guinn has deftly restored the humanity of America's best known crime couple, stripping away the Hollywood glamour and hype with the unvarnished but equally compelling truth. And flawed though they were, through his intriguing book, we still end up liking these two lost souls."-- Kathleen Krog,The Miami Herald, " Go Down Together is a richly detailed dual biography.... Guinn, a Texas-based journalist, has researched their lives and times with the kind of thoroughness generally reserved for politicians and captains of industry." -- Allen Barra, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Go Down Togetheris a rollicking read, an astonishing story of perseverance in the face of hopelessness, and a perverse tale of two lovers whom only death could part.... Jeff Guinn strips away the glamour...to reveal the desperadoes as they really were.... His exhaustively researched chronicle of their misadventures seems definitive."-- Mark Dunkelman,The Providence Journal, "This is the best Bonnie and Clyde book I've ever seen. Three-quarters of a century after their deaths, and following a multitude of contradictory accounts by surviving participants, Go Down Together still manages to lift the veil and uncover surprising new stories and details and fresh insights into both the famous outlaw lovers and the team of manhunters who brought them down. An eye-opener that will set historians and crime buffs alike talking for a long time to come." -- Rick Mattix, coauthor of The Complete Public Enemy Almanac, "This intensely readable account de-romanticizes two of America's most notorious outlaws without undermining the mystique of the Depression-era gunslingers.... With the brisk pacing of a novel, Guinn's richly detailed history will leave readers breathless until the final hail of bullets." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review), " Go Down Together is a rollicking read, an astonishing story of perseverance in the face of hopelessness, and a perverse tale of two lovers whom only death could part.... Jeff Guinn strips away the glamour...to reveal the desperadoes as they really were.... His exhaustively researched chronicle of their misadventures seems definitive." -- Mark Dunkelman, The Providence Journal, "This intensely readable account de-romanticizes two of America's most notorious outlaws without undermining the mystique of the Depression-era gunslingers....With the brisk pacing of a novel, Guinn's richly detailed history will leave readers breathless until the final hail of bullets."--Publishers Weekly(starred review), "This intensely readable account de-romanticizes two of America's most notorious outlaws without undermining the mystique of the Depression-era gunslingers....Guinn's richly detailed history will leave readers breathless until the final hail of bullets."--Publishers Weekly(starred review), "The true story of Bonnie and Clyde.... Intense but fascinating...rubs the gloss from the mythos and replaces it with a patina of true grit.... Guinn succeeds marvelously in re-creating the spirit of the times, the desperation of unemployment and financial ruin. It's a zeitgeist becoming chillingly familiar today, and that gives this book a wallop."-- Jackie Loohauis-Bennett,Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Jeff Guinn effectively separates fact from fiction inGo Down Together, an exhaustively researched, crisply written biography of one of the most notorious criminal duos in U.S. history."-- Rick Warner, Bloomberg.com, "Go Down Togetheris a richly detailed dual biography.... Guinn, a Texas-based journalist, has researched their lives and times with the kind of thoroughness generally reserved for politicians and captains of industry."-- Allen Barra,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "An embracing biography of the Barrow Gang that draws us in like an old wanted poster....Not only does Guinn maintain control of the mayhem....the author manages to humanize the characters...while inserting them into the historical context of the times."-- Steve Bennett,San Antonio Express-News, "Go Down Togetheris thorough, precise, beautifully written, and compulsively readable. It shines a brilliant lamp on two very unusual people, and, a bonus, it richly illuminates middle America between the wars. Completely fascinating."-- Robert B. Parker, author of the Spenser novels
