Selectively Lawless : The True Story of Emmett Long, an American Original

The true life story of a gunslinging, gambling moonshiner is recounted in this "cheerful, wild...rollicking biography" by the outlaw's own nephew ( Forward Reviews ). Born to a Texas sharecropping family in 1904, Emmett Long soon fell in love with fast engines and fast living. An associate of legendary outlaws like Pretty Boy Floyd and Frank Nash, Emmett rose from poverty to infamy as a prodigious gambler, moonshiner, bank robber, and—on occasion—a killer of men. But he was not your average outlaw. From an early age, Emmett made his own rules—and he stuck to them, too. Instead of dying young in a blaze of guns and fury, he found Christianity, married a good woman, raised a family, and lived to a ripe age as a successful rancher. In a new twist to the classic Great Depression outlaw narrative, Asa Dunnington shares the life story of his uncle in Selectively Lawless. In the early 20th century, money, power, and reputation were king. With outlaws such as Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson roaming the streets, it was a lawless time, with lawless individuals taking their fates and fortunes into their own hands. Emmett Long was one of these said individuals. Bank robber, moonshiner, gambler, and on occasion even taking a man's life, he made his own rules and broke them whenever he pleased. But he varied from the typical story, and didn't die at the young age of 30-something in a blaze of guns and fury. Instead he lived to a ripe age, reformed his ways, found Christianity, married a good woman, raised a family and became a successful rancher. Not the expected turn of events for such a lawless beginning. A new twist to the classic Great Depression outlaw narrative, Asa Dunnington shamelessly shares the life story of his uncle in Selectively Lawless: The True Story of Emmett Long, an American Original In the early twentieth century, money, power, and reputation were king. With outlaws like Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson roaming the streets, it was a lawless time, with lawless individuals taking their fates and fortunes into their own hands. Emmett Long was one of them. Bank robber, moonshiner, gambler, and on occasion even a killer, he made his own rules. But he varied from the typical story. Instead of dying at the young age of thirty-something in a blaze of guns and fury, he lived to a ripe age, reformed his ways, found Christianity, married a good woman, raised a family, and became a successful rancher. Not the expected turn of events for such a lawless beginning. In a new twist to the classic Great Depression outlaw narrative, Asa Dunnington shares the life story of his uncle in Selectively The True Story of Emmett Long, an American Original. From a time of unforgettable criminals, one story's been overlooked over the years. Emmett Long existed in a plane of lawlessness during the Great Depression, carving his place in the Western outlaw narrative alongside figures such as William Hale and Pretty Boy Floyd-but disrupting the norm by changing his ways, living long, and starting a family