Cast of characters -- Prologue -- Sam -- Sam speaks -- Sam's letter to Breslin -- Sam sleeps -- Sam writes -- Becoming Jimmy Breslin -- Breslin becomes a big shot -- More than one I in Tribune -- The new journalism, & the old mob -- The first plane to Dallas -- You! You! You! You! -- The bard of Queens Boulevard -- Riots, race & the one percent -- Bobby We'll never be young again -- Post haste -- Bumpy's farewell -- Lindsay in Harlem -- Feat of clay -- How to write a profile -- Running against the machine -- Crimes of a century -- The night John Lennon died -- Dies the victim dies the city -- Lufthansa heist -- Dies Rosemary dies the family -- Fear city -- Simply stunning -- Boulevard of broken schemes -- A prize named for a publisher -- Truth, justice & the comics -- Bring back the death penalty -- "One great act of bigotry" -- Love, betrayal & loss -- You never leave whitespace -- He finds Selma in Zuccotti Park -- Big Man dies -- Coda -- A timeline of significant events -- Acknowledgments -- Index.