The Good Old Days

I recently read a book called Fruit of the Poppy by Robert Wilder.It's a really old book, published in 1965.I bought this book from the SMKDU library when they sold off some of their old books.It was a pleasant surprise when it turned out to be quite a good read.

The story takes place in the 60's itself.Back then the mafia was in control of pretty much everything in the US.Fruit of the Poppy is a tale of drugs and the unseen world of crime that revolves around it.It tells of the continuous battle between the mob and the long arm of the law.The protagonist of this book even has a really cool name - Sol Madrid.I mean seriously can you think of a better name for an undercover agent.

This book gave me valuable insight into the seedy underworld of the mafia.How the family works, how problems were solved with an almost creepy level of civility and what how they kept their heinous crimes so organized.It also explained how the Bureau of Narcotics and the Border Patrol worked together to prevent drugs from entering the country.The lives of a small number of men and women who sacrifice their personal lives for the sake of duty.

I kept forgetting that this story took place in the 60's.Firstly the characters from the Chicago borgata made a huge fuss over $250,000 that was stolen by an accountant.I thought that it was a small sum and he couldn't do much with it.Then I remembered that the value of money was bigger back then.he could have done quite a lot with it.

I also forgot there weren't any handphones back then.Throughout the story they kept using regular phones and pay phones.Even when the characters were in an emergency they used a pay phone!Oh well I'm too used to all the conveniences of modern life.

Boy it was a good book.Although I felt that the ending was quite drab and lacked pizzazz, it was quite nice to learn about the good old days.