Little Caesar

About the book

Rico watches the men around Sam Vettori's gang with an ambition that makes every difference in status important. A planned nightclub robbery offers an opportunity, but criminal success requires more than nerve with a gun: it demands alliances, discipline, and the ability to keep other people afraid. Joe Massara, whose interests include dancing and a life outside the gang, troubles Rico's narrow idea of loyalty. Burnett follows the pressures within the criminal organization through blunt dialogue and close attention to hierarchy. The apparent freedom promised by power creates new forms of dependence and exposure. Behind the public swagger are men constantly interpreting gestures, testing obedience, and wondering who can be trusted. The novel makes the pursuit of dominance itself a source of suspense.

• Ambition and power
• Criminal loyalty
• Status and insecurity

Why read it

Rico's attention to rank turns ordinary conversations into contests with potentially violent consequences.

English text of the 1929 Literary Guild of America edition