Murder He Liked: A Half-Century of Trials and Tribulations

by Rory McGahan and Nathan Cohn

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1599754886
• ISBN13: 9781599754888
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Polish Fisher Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Murder he liked

Easy to read and also captured lots of interesting facts of the historical events.

A fascinating glimpse into an earlier San Francisco

Once upon a time in "Baghdad by the Bay" -- the now wildly inappropriate nickname for San Francisco coined by Herb Caen -- Nathan "Nate" Cohn was a prominent criminal lawyer and Man-to-go-to. I'm not sure whether we are better or worse off for having left behind the era when a couple of phone calls could "take care of things," but Cohn's memoirs of his days as a crackerjack defense lawyer are so entertaining that they almost make that issue beside the point. Here's a guy who grew up in an environment of Carnivals and show biz, got into law, founded cigar-smoking luncheon clubs and criminal lawyer societies, and advanced to juggling politicians, lobbyists, and clients amidst the Democratic machines of days past. Chapters on Nate's interaction with the fledgling Castro regime in revolutionary Cuba and the Chicago Democratic convention in 1968 provide a unique angle on those history-changing moments. And then there's the time he went to court for Tempest Storm. The bottom line: this is a riveting (and chuckle-laden) glimpse into a San Francisco (and USA) that is no more. I happened upon the book unexpectedly and wasn't sure how it would read, but was pleased to discover that it was a diamond in the rough. Californians of a certain era - Jesse Unruh, Pat Brown, Melvin Belli - are prominent in Cohn's anecdotes, but whether you have heard of them or not, this book pays off. One caveat: Murder He Liked is apparently self-published, although the production values (binding, paper, typesetting, dust jacket design) are all top notch. Where things get a little shaky is in the proofing. Co-author Rory McGahan has taken Cohn's memories and crafted them into straight forward, conversational prose. But the text is peppered with the sort of typos that elude spell-checkers: doubled or dropped words, and the occasional misplaced word. My advice is to put up with these for the sake of the greater story. You may not approve of everything that Nate Cohn brags about, but I don't think you'll regret letting him share his tales. This is invaluable first-person history, direct from the source.