The Riddle of the Wooden Gun [2009] - Todd Moore

"the beauty of it | all was the | myth of the mystery . . ."

"What we do know is that the riddle of the wooden gun is very much a mystery that hints at darker, maybe demonic things, among them the pure sense of apocalypse in America . . . these are the kinds of images, these are the haunted emblems, these are the riddles, the limitless possibilities and the dark impossibilities that both obscure and define America." —Todd Moore

Of all the legends surrounding Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger, perhaps none has captured the public's imagination quite like his daring escape from the county jail in Crown Point, Indiana, on March 3, 1934, allegedly with the aid of a fake gun carved out of wood. Public Enemies author Bryan Burrough states, "As for the gun, many still refuse to believe Dillinger was able to escape using only a wooden replica. Ernest Blunk and others would later insist Dillinger had used a real pistol. Some writers, including John Toland, agree; Toland posited that Dillinger had used a wooden gun and a real gun. But FBI files make clear Dillinger, at least initially, had only the wooden gun." According to The Crown Point Network, "While incarcerated in the Lake County Jail, Dillinger carved a gun from a wooden washboard or a bar of soap (local legend varies), and stained the fake gun with black shoe polish." Finally, www.fbi.gov claims, "Dillinger cowed the guards with what he claimed later was a wooden gun he had whittled. He forced them to open the door to his cell, then grabbed two machine guns, locked up the guards and several trustees, and fled." And so on . . . Each description of the wooden gun changes slightly, adding yet another piece to an endless puzzle.

Known for his highly unconventional, rapid-fire poetic style, legendary outlaw poet Todd Moore has been working on his epic Dillinger poem for more than 30 years and his latest installment, "The Riddle of the Wooden Gun," rips apart this single aspect of the Dillinger legend and brilliantly transcends it into a commentary on the nature of myths throughout American history, as well as our seemingly inherent fascination with violence. The subject matter is perfectly suited to a maverick poet such as Moore, whose critically acclaimed poetry has appeared in more than a thousand literary journals over the past 40 years. Throughout his epic 144-page poem, Moore focuses not only on Dillinger's contemporaries such as Baby Face Nelson, J. Edgar Hoover and Billie Frechette but also jumps back and forth throughout American history with references to such historical outlaws as Tom Horn, Dalton Gang, John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid and others.

My images of Depression-era gangsters have always been shaped by cinematic portrayals such as Rico Bandello in Little Caesar, Tony Camonte in Scarface, Tom Powers in The Public Enemy, Eddie Bartlett in The Roaring Twenties and "Mad Dog" Earle in High Sierra. Dillinger himself has been portrayed by everyone from Nick Adams (Young Dillinger) and Warren Oates (Dillinger) to Robert Conrad (The Lady in Red) and now Johnny Depp (Public Enemies). As evidenced by "The Riddle of the Wooden Gun," which is also cinematic in style, the real John Dillinger remains forever elusive. As Moore himself has stated, "None of these riddles will be solved to anyone's particular satisfaction, but it isn't really a solution that anyone is after. It's the rich cluster of possibilities that these kinds of riddles offer."

This is one-of-a-kind, epic poetry—haunting, violent, humorous and stunningly original! "The Riddle of the Wooden Gun" is highly recommended and I look forward to delving into the other installments of Moore's Dillinger series. "The Riddle of the Wooden Gun" is available from Lummox Press at lummoxpress.com or amazon.com.