Jimmy Breslin: The Man Who Told the Truth

Book excerpt: “Do not. Confuse me. With. The facts. I tell the truth.” —Jimmy Breslin The first-ever biography of America’s greatest crime reporter In a newspaper career spanning decades, Jimmy Breslin covered the stories that he knew mattered most: the human stories beyond the front page. From the JFK assassination, to the Son of Sam killings, mafia heists, the Crown Heights riots, and the Occupy movement, Breslin’s influential columns captured the lifebeat of the second half of the 20th century. A quintessential New Yorker, Breslin rubbed shoulders with world leaders and neighborhood arsonists, profiled JFK’s gravedigger, and elicited letters from the Son of Sam killer during his reign of terror, all recounted in columns that were personal, blunt, and the truth—at least Jimmy’s version of it. Jimmy Breslin: The Man Who Told the Truth is the first biography of the legendary writer, vividly portrayed by Richard Esposito, a former colleague of the Big Man. From Breslin’s humble beginnings as a copy boy, to winning the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, the writer’s life was as fascinating as any of his subjects. With the full cooperation of Breslin’s family and interviews with countless of his former coworkers, friends, and enemies, Esposito has crafted a meticulous and revealing portrait of a complex man who bared his soul to the world in column inches.