Travel hopefully in life.

A couple of weeks ago, I snagged Greg Donahue's The Minuteman: The Forgotten Legacy of Nat Arno and the Fight Against Newark's Nazis for free as part of an Audible daily deal or something. I don't remember exactly, only that I got so excited about it that I clicked on it almost immediately to make sure I didn't miss out.

It's a pretty concise audiobook, just shy of two hours long, and it reads more like a podcast in cadence. It covers the life and times of Sidney Nathaniel Abramowitz—aka "Nat Arno"—a Jewish man from Newark, New Jersey who started boxing professionally at age 15 and spent the first decade and change of his adult life as a low-level mobster, slugging it out with Nazis in Newark and, later, overseas. The book gives a brief overview of Arno's childhood and later life, tightening the lens in on his time as the leader of the Minutemen, a group of Jewish toughs who fought American Nazis and other anti-Semitic groups with the support of Abner "Longie" Zwillman, the leader of the Jewish mob based out of Newark.

While I wish the author had taken a slightly deeper dive into some points of Arno's life that he glosses over, the book on the whole was a very fun listen and shed light on an impressive historical figure whose name I have never once heard until now. I will say that if you have an issue with violent protest, this reading experience may not be for you, but if you're looking to cheer for a little good ol' fashioned vigilantism-by-assault and have a couple of hours to kill, The Minuteman may be just the ticket you're looking for.

Unfortunately it is an "Audible Original," and I've been unable to find it available on other platforms. Should that change anytime in the future I'll make sure to note it for those interested.