I have no idea why I bought this book, but thankfully I got it cheaply at a used book sale because it was a waste of my time and the paper it was written on. The author is Joe Pistone, best known for having been undercover in the mafia for six years as Donnie Brasco. This book, a follow-up to his book on his time undercover, is supposedly an "inside look" on how wiseguys look, act, and feel. In the first chapter, he talks about how real life wiseguys are nothing like the fictional wiseguys seen on TV and in movies, and then proceeds to fill the book with sweeping stereotypes about them that are identical to the portrayals in Goodfellas and The Godfather. These stereotypes might very well be true, but it's not like this book is somehow offering new and exciting insights.
The book is split up into several dozen short chapters, each addressing a specific topic such as "Why Wiseguys Will Kill You" and "Wiseguys Love Their Food." The stereotypes are so pervasive that given the chapter titles I likely could have written the content after having watched a few episodes of The Sopranos. Pistone doesn't seem to care that his blanket statements seem to contradict each other on a regular basis, either. In the chapter entitled "Wiseguys and Money" he says that when wiseguys go out to eat, "you get the check, and you pull out a three-inch-thick roll of Lincolns and Hamiltons." A few chapters later, in "Wiseguys Are Cheap," Pistone asserts that "When wiseguys go out, everything is on the arm--given to them for free."
Obviously these observations are drawn from his real-life experiences, but the book reads like he was an extra on The Sopranos. Don't bother reading this book. If for some reason you haven't already done so, go out and watch The Godfather. It's just as informative and a lot more entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment