The Confederation Handbook

A fascinating biographical novel of America’s most successful bank robber—”What Hilary Mantel did for Thomas Cromwell and Paula McLain for Hadley Hemingway . . .Moehringer does for bank robber Willie Sutton” (Newsday).

“Sutton presents a glorious romance, a riveting heist novel, a financial history of the 20th century, a loving portrait of New York, and an empathetic portrait of the bank robber as a young man, all in one crisp, sad, and often hilarious novel. It is an utter joy to read.” —Anthony Doerr, author of The Shell Collector and Memory Wall

Born in the first year of the twentieth century, raised in the squalid slums of Brooklyn, Willie Sutton saw only one way out: he made himself a master thief. Soon he became so deft at robbing banks, so skilled at breaking out of jail, that police dubbed him one of the most dangerous men in New York. And yet the public rooted for Sutton. They chanted his name, cheered his escapes, hailed him as a folk hero. After all, Sutton never fired a shot, and his victims were merely banks, which had shamelessly victimized society. Few suspected the real motive of this modern Robin Hood. In J.R. Moehringer’s gripping, fact-based retelling, it was love. And when Sutton finally walked free for good—a surprise pardon on Christmas Eve, 1969—he immediately set out to find her.

“Electrifying.” —Booklist (starred review)

“With a voice at once sentimental and muscular, Moehringer is like the kid brother of John Irving or Roddy Doyle. He brings a raconteur’s grace and rhythm to his first novel, Sutton, a stirring portrait of Willie “The Actor” Sutton.” —Entertainment Weekly (A-)