Billy Bathgate

Set in the Bronx in the 1930s during the Prohibition Era, American author E.L. Doctorow’s historical novel ­Billy Bathgate (1989) tells the story of fifteen-year-old Billy Behar who is taken under the wing of the real-life Jewish-American mobster, Dutch Schultz. Billy Bathgate won numerous literary awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award. In 1991, the book was adapted into a film starring Dustin Hoffman.

At the beginning of the novel, Billy works at a laundry in order to scrape together enough money to support his mother, who suffers from schizophrenia. The two belong to an Irish-American family living in a low-income, working-class neighborhood on Bathgate Street in the Bronx, New York. In his spare time, Billy and his friends like to look through the windows of warehouses and shops where they know high-profile gangsters congregate. The boys admire the mobsters for how they have lifted themselves up financially by refusing to live by the rules of society.

One day, while spying on a warehouse where bootleggers store alcohol, Billy sees the prominent Jewish-American gangster, Dutch Schultz. What makes this even more exciting is that few have seen or heard from Schultz in months, as the gangster has been laying low in the wake of tax evasion charges. Billy confronts Schultz, showing off his juggling skills. Schultz appears to be impressed, calling Billy "capable" and giving him a little money. Intoxicated by his interaction with a real gangster, Billy seeks him out again by disguising himself as a delivery boy and sneaking into an illegal gambling operation run by Schultz. Schultz isn't there this time; instead, Billy meets Otto Berman, Schultz's accountant and right-hand man. Berman is also impressed with Billy, not for his juggling skills but for his cunning and courage in sneaking into the gambling operation. Berman hires Billy on the spot as a janitor.



Over the next three months, both Schultz and Berman mentor Billy, growing close to him in the process. Billy observes that the two men seem to be working at cross-purposes; Berman wants to transition into more legitimate businesses, while Schultz seems to have little interest in legitimizing his operation. As time goes on, the tasks assigned to Billy grow more important, until one day Billy is asked to spy on one of Schultz's lieutenants, Bo Weinberg. Billy sees Bo scheming behind Schultz's back with members of the Italian Mafia. In retaliation, Schultz abducts Bo and his socialite girlfriend, Drew Preston. On a boat in the East River, Schultz tortures Bo for information before tossing him in the river with his feet stuck in cement. Billy is present for all of this. Before Bo is thrown into the river, he extracts a promise from Billy to protect his girlfriend, Drew, at all costs.

Drew is married to a wealthy homosexual named Harvey who allows her to carry on affairs with other men as long as she is discreet. After Bo's death, Drew becomes Schultz's girlfriend, sensing that she may lose her life if she refuses.

Meanwhile, Schultz strikes a deal with the state district attorney to turn himself in for tax evasion, as long as his trial takes place in a small farming community in upstate New York. In advance of the trial, Schultz fashions himself as a pillar of the community, buying out the townspeople's debts and joining the local Catholic Church, despite the fact that he is Jewish. Schultz asks Billy to pose as a poor orphan boy he adopted while Drew poses as Billy's governess. When Schultz is baptized as a Catholic, he has the prominent Italian mobster Lucky Luciano act as his godfather, hoping to build a lasting partnership with the Italian Mafia.



During their time upstate, Drew and Billy become romantically involved behind Schultz's back. Meanwhile, Berman increasingly views Drew as a liability for Schultz and his chances of acquittal. She is frequently drunk, grieving the loss of Bo, and takes pleasure in creating schisms between Schultz and his subordinates. Sensing that Berman plans to have Drew killed, Billy arranges for her husband, Harvey, to pick her up and take her out of the country, saving her life from Berman's hit squad.

Although Schultz's efforts pay off and the state acquits him of all charges, he now finds himself facing federal tax evasion charges from prosecutor Thomas Dewey. After Schultz hatches a plan to murder Dewey, Luciano orders him to call off the assassination because he doesn't want to attract attention to their criminal activities. Schultz refuses to back down; Luciano's men storm Schultz's headquarters, killing Schultz and Berman and barely missing the much smaller Billy with their gunfire. Before expiring, Schultz whispers the hidden location of his personal fortune to Billy.

A year later, Billy finds an infant on his doorstep along with a note from Drew, claiming that the baby is his son. Billy uses Schultz's fortune to take care of his new son and to found a legitimate business that thrives for decades.



According to The New York Times, "Billy Bathgate is the kind of book you find yourself finishing at three in the morning after promising at midnight that you'll stop after one more page."