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The snakehead : an epic tale of the Chinatown underworld and the American dream / Patrick Radden Keefe.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Anchor Books, 2010, c2009.Edition: 1st Anchor Books edDescription: xiv, 414 p. : map ; 21 cmISBN:
  • 0307279278
  • 9780307279279
Other title:
  • Snake head [Cover title]
Subject(s):
Contents:
Pilgrims -- Leaving Fujian -- Eighteen-thousand-dollar woman -- Dai Lo of the Fuk Ching -- Swiftwater -- Year of the snake -- Mombasa -- The phantom ship -- The Teaneck massacre -- Mutiny in the Atlantic -- A well-founded fear -- The fat man -- Freedom birds -- The goldfish and the Great Wall -- Parole -- Snakeheads international -- Catching Lilly Zhang -- The mother of all Snakeheads.
Summary: "In this thrilling panorama of real-life events, Patrick Radden Keefe investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York's Chinatown managed a mulitmillion-dollar business smuggling people."--P.[4] of cover.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 364.137 K26 Available 33111006446716
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this thrilling panorama of real-life events, the bestselling author of Empire of Pain investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York's Chinatown managed a multi-million dollar business smuggling people.

"Reads like a mashup of The Godfather and Chinatown , complete with gun battles, a ruthless kingpin and a mountain of cash. Except that it's all true." -- Time

Keefe reveals the inner workings of Sister Ping's complex empire and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. He follows an often incompetent and sometimes corrupt INS as it pursues desperate immigrants risking everything to come to America, and along the way, he paints a stunning portrait of a generation of illegal immigrants and the intricate underground economy that sustains and exploits them. Grand in scope yet propulsive in narrative force, The Snakehead is both a kaleidoscopic crime story and a brilliant exploration of the ironies of immigration in America.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [346]-404) and index.

Pilgrims -- Leaving Fujian -- Eighteen-thousand-dollar woman -- Dai Lo of the Fuk Ching -- Swiftwater -- Year of the snake -- Mombasa -- The phantom ship -- The Teaneck massacre -- Mutiny in the Atlantic -- A well-founded fear -- The fat man -- Freedom birds -- The goldfish and the Great Wall -- Parole -- Snakeheads international -- Catching Lilly Zhang -- The mother of all Snakeheads.

"In this thrilling panorama of real-life events, Patrick Radden Keefe investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York's Chinatown managed a mulitmillion-dollar business smuggling people."--P.[4] of cover.

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