Go Down Together by Jeff Guinn

As an aficionado of crime fiction, I thought I would dip my toe into the non-fiction world of real life crime.  Like many people, I had heard bits and pieces about various criminal celebrities of the 1930s, like Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Ma Barker, and Bonnie and Clyde.  Part of my brain realized their real life stories were probably far from what has been depicted in the movies, TV, etc. so  at the recommendation of a good friend who studies this era of crime, I chose to read this book about Bonnie and Clyde.

What an eye opener!  Forget everything you may have heard or seen particularly if you have seen the movie starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  Jeff Guinn, the author of this book has meticulously researched this saga, and provides an extensive source listing.  It’s so complete that it seems almost every line in the text is sourced from a letter, an interview, police reports, etc.  Hats off to his comprehensive research efforts.

I was struck by the story of these two people, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.  Growing up in the West Dallas slums and maturing only as the Great Depression hit obviously had a huge impact on them.  But plenty of other people lived through those exact same circumstances and did not make the same choices.  To see how a combination of their life situations, extremely bad luck, their self-image, and extremely good luck led them to their life paths is fascinating reading.

Some tidbits:

   1) Clyde Barrow was the absolute leader of the duo as well as of all the reincarnations of the Barrow Gang.  Bonnie was really just along for the ride.  In fact up until the Warren Beatty movie, they were known as “Clyde and Bonnie” or more often, “The Barrow Gang”, not “Bonnie and Clyde”

   2) It’s hard to believe how much the law enforcement community was shackled during that era.  Very little ability to communicate, very poor resources, no federal support (J Edgar Hoover was just getting started).  They couldn’t even pursue a criminal across state lines.  Difficult to believe they ever caught anybody!

   3) The overall time frame of Clyde and Bonnie’s time in the sun, so to speak, was really very short.  From their rise to national fame after the Joplin incident to their ultimate death by ambush was a mere 14 months.

   4) The Barrow Gang (as did Dillinger) continuously robbed National Guard armories to get their weapons.  Dozens of times.  Hard to believe but that seemed far easier for them than robbing a bank or even a supermarket.

   5) Up until 1934 when the duo died, there were no penalties for harboring fugitives.  Clyde and Bonnie (and other members of their gang) visited their home in Dallas many, many times during their rampage.  This was well known by the local police but they simply didn’t have the resources for a stake out.  And the family and friends never worried about the consequences of harboring.  But, as a result of Clyde and Bonnie’s saga, the laws were soon changed.

   6) The myth of Clyde, Bonnie, and the Barrow Gang arose largely due to the times.  Depression era Americans were usually desperate for entertainment to take their mind away from their troubles.  Journalists of the era were more like fiction writers and frequently printed headlines with no basis in fact.  Both Bonnie and Clyde loved reading about their larger-than-life selves in “True Detective” magazine and the newspapers and yet also complained when they were blamed for crimes with which they had no involvement.

Overall, this is a fascinating read.  I actually took my time reading it so as to absorb the impact of each chapter.  To be there at the scene of a getaway when the Barrow Gang is trapped with no way out…and yet they somehow manage to escape is incredible.   And it wasn’t due to mastermind-like intelligence either.  Neither Clyde nor Bonnie displayed much smarts in their lives but they sure did benefit from mother luck. Many times various members of the gang were wounded horribly but kept on going.  Bonnie herself was almost crippled after Clyde, a dangerously fast driver at all times, slid off the road and the resulting accident spilled battery acid down Bonnie’s leg.   After that, Clyde had to carry her wherever they went. Their lives were not glamorous in the least but rather lived day-to-day, mostly camping out and eating on blankets.  By the end of their lives they were both extremely thin and, due to various injuries, could hardly stand. 

I could go on and on about various scenarios but suffice it to say, real life can, indeed, be stranger, and more unbelievable than fiction.  Reading this book has made me yearn to learn more about other “celebrity criminals” of the era.