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TOD GOLDBERG discusses his novel GANGSTERLAND with special guest DINAH LENNEY

Todd GoldbergDinah Lenney

Gangsterland (Counterpoint)

Novelist Tod Goldberg will discuss his new novel Gangsterland with author Dinah Lenney (The Object Parade).  

Sal Cupertine is a legendary hit man for the Chicago Mafia, known for his ability to get in and out of a crime without a trace. Until now, that is. His first-ever mistake forces Sal to botch an assassination, killing three undercover FBI agents in the process. This puts too much heat on Sal, and he knows this botched job will be his death sentence to the Mafia. So he agrees to their radical idea to save his own skin. 

A few surgeries and some intensive training later, and Sal Cupertine is gone, disappeared into the identity of Rabbi David Cohen. Leading his growing congregation in Las Vegas, overseeing the population and the temple and the new cemetery, Rabbi Cohen feels his wicked past slipping away from him, surprising even himself as he spouts quotes from the Torah or the Old Testament. Yet, as it turns out, the Mafia isn't quite done with him yet. Soon the new cemetery is being used as both a money and body-laundering scheme for the Chicago family. And that rogue FBI agent on his trail, seeking vengeance for the murder of his three fellow agents, isn't going to let Sal fade so easily into the desert. 

Gangsterland is the wickedly dark and funny new novel by a writer at the height of his power - a morality tale set in a desert landscape as ruthless and barren as those who inhabit it. 

Praise for Gangsterland:
“Just when you thought the mafia novel was dead, Tod Goldberg breathes new life into it. Gangsterland, the best mafia novel in years, is a dark, funny, and smart page-turning crime story. It's also a moving, thoughtful meditation on ethics, religion, family, and a culture that eats itself. I loved this book.” —Sara Gran, author of Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway

“With his eye for human detail and trademark wit, as dry as a desert breeze, Tod Goldberg charts Sal Cupertine's unlikely transition from stone-cold mob hitman to Las Vegas rabbi. This tale of witness relocation-by-mob—part Elmore Leonard, part Theatre of the Absurd—is a compelling examination of salvation, which comes in various guises and moves in elusive ways. A wholly unique tale from a wholly unique voice.” —Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Look Back

“Tod Goldberg has long been one of the most interesting writers around, and Gangsterland is his biggest and best book so far.” —Thomas Perry

"Infinitely readable, infinitely funny, and infinitely better than anything else you'll read this year!" —Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries and the basis for A&E's hit series Longmire 

Tod Goldberg is the author of the crime-tinged novels Living Dead Girl (a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize), Fake Liar Cheat, and the popular Burn Notice series. His essay "When They Let Them Bleed," first published by Hobart, was selected by Cheryl Strayed for inclusion in The Best American Essays 2013. He is also the author of the story collections Simplify, a 2006 finalist for the SCIBA Award for Fiction and winner of the Other Voices Short Story Collection Prize. 

Dinah Lenney is the author of Bigger Than Life: A Murder, a Memoir, and co-authored Acting for Young Actors. Her essays and reviews have been published in a wide range of publications and anthologies including LARB, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, AGNI, Creative Nonfiction, the Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, TriQuarterly, and Brevity.com. Dinah is an editor for the Los Angeles Review of Books and serves as core faculty for the Bennington Writing Seminars, the Rainier Writing Workshop, and in the Master of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California. Her new book, The Object Parade, was recently published by Counterpoint Press. www.dinahlenney.com (@dinahlenney on Twitter).

Event date: 
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - 7:30pm
Event address: 
1818 N Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Living Dead Girl By Tod Goldberg Cover Image
$16.95
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
ISBN: 9781616951672
Published: Soho Crime - October 16th, 2012

Other Resort Cities By Tod Goldberg Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9780981589992
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: Other Voices - October 1st, 2009