A Messy Mystery

Nick Tosches’ new book, King of the Jews, is supposed to be about the gambler and underworld figure Arnold Rothstein.

Rothstein, who was murdered in 1928, was never actually king of the Jews, but for a time he did rule organized crime in New York City, and beyond. Rothstein was a behind-the-scenes man adept at manipulating both gangsters and politicians. He had his hands in horse racing, Prohibition-era alcohol peddling, and prostitution. Some consider him the father of the modern drug trade. Perhaps most notably, Rothstein has been accused of masterminding the Black Sox Scandal—when members of the Chicago White Sox conspired to lose the 1919 World Series. Rothstein was also the inspiration for Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby and Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls.