The Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate's Code Of Silence And The Biggest Marijuana Bust In American History (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
This is a story about one of the largest marijuana syndicates ever, the "Cornbread Mafia". The group came from a rural and predominantly Catholic county in Kentucky. It shows a close-knit, loyal group of so-called "hillbillies" who were catapulted to a national profile in the industry due to their skill at growing and harvesting the controversial Cannibis genus of plants. It especially focuses in on one of the main men in this group, Johnny Boone. I found it extremely fascinating. The author did a great job of showing the transition between the bootlegger era and the era in the 1970s and 1980s when loads of Marion County, Kentucky farmers decided to grow pot and really excelled at what they did. There was also an astounding vow of silence in regard to ratting other farmers out. The author has done an amazing amount of research and tells a compelling story. This is an important story in showing the complexities of the "war on drugs", especially in the way it shows a case which sort of challenges some common stereotypes. It is also interesting to see the way America's Most Wanted sensationalized things, doing everything it could to paint Boone as a violent and dangerous man. Hands down, James Higdon's "Cornbread Mafia" is one of the best true crime books I've ever read, bringing to life the colorful history of Marion County and its metamorphosis from dissident Catholic enclave to moonshiner's and bootlegger's central to the place that made American pot synonymous with Kentucky Bluegrass.In this respect, the book is less an examination of a particular criminal or criminal cartel, but instead a cultural history of a particular place and its peculiar brand of crime. Although the central figures of "Cornbread Mafia" are marijuana gang chieftans Johnny Boone, Bobby Joe Shewmaker, and Jimmy Bickett, Higdon's real strength is laying out the two century history of Marion County. In doing so, the author vividly creates for the reader a culture that fostered outlaws with a insular, backcountry code of silence that would put even the Mafia in their heyday to shame. Another major treat is the intersection with characters of "the Bluegrass Conspiracy"The book is not without its warts (a DC-3 is a twin-engined place, for example, not four), but these are minor and are not what some reviewers chose to focus on. I've read a few comments about how this book is for "Kentucky insiders," a claim I reject with prejudice. While I am a Kentuckian, I wonder if those readers would say the same thing about such a colorful cultural history of crime in Staten Island, NYC or the South Side of Chicago. Their beef isn't with the lively and detailed background provided by Higdon, but with its unfamiliar rural setting. Basically, they are complaining about being shown a new and different place, so one wonders why they are reading this or any book in the first place!Do you like true crime books about colorful neighborhoods or syndicates? Buy this book. Are you a Kentuckian who wants to learn more about one of the most interesting criminal episodes of modern history? Buy this book. It reads like a true crime version of "Justified."
What do You think about The Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate's Code Of Silence And The Biggest Marijuana Bust In American History (2012)?
Interesting especially if you are from Kentucky. Open ended. It will probably be a movie someday.
—mary
loved the history...but got bored with mafia hijinks.
—aoife
I enjoyed it very much since I am from Kentucky.
—Amit
