Nick Pileggi had dry snitches working for him from as far back as the late '60s, long before anyone ever heard the name Capeci. That's why, even though Henry Hill was a bottom-feeding lowlife and a liar, you have to give credit where it's due on that book.

Nick Pileggi went Hollywood. And who can blame him? His wife was an iconic screenwriter herself. But if he had concentrated on a "hard boiled" journalism career, he could have been another Jimmy Breslin or Pete Hamill.