Al Capone got an icy reception when he arrived in Miami Beach in 1928. Whether he was winter-weary like other Northern tourists was immaterial; Miami saw him as a blight on its reputation.

SONNY BOY. By Al Pacino. Penguin Press. 370 pages. $35. It is hard to believe that Al Pacino is 84 years old. In recent televised interviews, despite the wrinkles, grizzled hair and slightly ...