Read more
Growing up in an average Midwestern Jewish household, Eric Konigsberg always wished there was something different about his family. One day, he learned that there was: his great-uncle Harold, in prison in upstate New York, was a legendary Mafia enforcer, suspected by the FBI of more than twenty murders. Based on the acclaimed New Yorker article, Blood Relation portrays Harold, known to his family as ''Uncle Heshy'' and to the police as ''Kayo'' Konigsberg, as a fascinating, paradoxical character. The cold-blooded killer was also a larger-than-life charmer who taught himself to read as an adult and served as his own lawyer in two major trials. Functioning by turns as Kayo''s pursuer, jailhouse scribe, pawn, and antagonist, Eric Konigsberg traces his great-uncle''s checkered life and investigates his impact on his family and associates. Blood Relation weaves together stories of family, Jewish identity, justice, and postwar American history into an unforgettable book. Eric Konigsberg grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and he lives in New York City with his wife and son. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Tin House. ''Absorbing and marvelously told [in] graceful, perfectly pitched prose ... a mesmerizing expedition.'' - New York Times Book Review
About the author
Eric Konigsberg grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and he lives in New York City with his wife and son. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Tin House.
