Just finished THE WESTIES,was ok i expected more as the book just seem to skip throught the years.And i had read in 3 days..

The F.B.I. director J. Edgar Hoover long denied the existence of the Mafia in America. He did not deny the existence of criminals, of course, or the fact that many of them came from Sicily; but he did not believe, or said he did not, that these men, dispersed in cities across the nation, worked in conspiracy, either because he underestimated them, had been paid off or simply did not care. Hoover was obsessed with revolutionaries, Communists and anarchists; gangsters, no matter what else they do, tend to support the status quo — they like the world the way it is. So in the end, the Mafia was first understood not by G-men but by the bureaucrats at the federal government’s Bureau of Narcotics, a precursor to the Drug Enforcement Administration. By following drug traffic across the nation, the orderly flow from port to truck to distributor to consumer, these men inadvertently mapped the underworld, and in the process created thousands of files, with each page dedicated to another hoodlum, another cog in the machine — runner, killer, distributor, shylock, boss. In the late 1950s, Senator John McClellan used these records to guide the hearings that finally brought the underworld to light.


The Government’s Secret File on Organized Crime.

By the United States Treasury Department, Bureau of Narcotics.

Illustrated. 843 pp. Collins/HarperCollins Publishers. $34.95.
With the publication of “Mafia,” the Bureau of Narcotics files have been made public for the first time: hundreds of documents, mug shots and criminal histories, like a twisted version of The Baseball Encyclopedia. The book, which is fascinating and huge, and must be taken in tiny, head-clearing sips, like moonshine, offers a panoramic view of the American underworld — the national face seen in a fun house mirror.

As you read, patterns emerge. There is the typical gangster body: “Jack Cerone ... 5’6 1/2", 195 lbs. ... stout.” There is the typical gangster pedigree: Anthony De Lardo, a k a Frank Fish, a k a Peachy, was “tried and acquitted for the gangland murder of Martin (Sunny Boy) Quick. Also tried and acquitted for assault and intent to murder Police Officer James Kelly. ... Convicted in 1933 of conspiracy to intimidate state’s witnesses” (possibly why Peachy kept getting acquitted). There are the mob jobs, the real-life models for Don Corleone’s olive oil business or Tony Soprano’s work in “waste management.” Take Theodore De Martino, a k a Teddy the Bum, said to have an interest in the Admiral Trucking Company; or Rocco Pellegrino, a k a the Old Man, “head of Mafia in Westchester,” who “owns Pellegrino Bakery, 16 Barker Ave., White Plains”; or Joseph Luco Pagano, a k a Joey, “manager of Lizzie’s Clam House, E. 116th St. & 2nd Ave., N.Y.C.” There are the joints where mobsters unwind, names that suggest the pleasures of the life have not changed: Joseph Fischetti, a k a Joseph Fisher, residing at 6701 Miami View Drive in Miami Beach, “frequents the Bonfire Restaurant, Dream Bar & Ted’s Grotto.” Then there is the typical gangster trajectory, which mirrors the national trajectory, from poor to rich, east to west, busy to free. There is Giovanni Roselli, born in Chicago, that cold, somber city, but who, at the time he was being investigated, resided at “1251 No. Crescent Hts., Hollywood, Cal. Frequents gambling casinos at Las Vegas where he has room at Tropicana Hotel. Travels frequently all parts U.S.”

There is a term for this: the American Dream.

“Mafia” is organized in the most basic way, with gangsters arranged first by region, then alphabetically. It’s as if the Bureau of Narcotics files were simply pulled from the cabinet — and you just know it was one of those steel gray monstrosities that go gong when you smack them — and put between hard covers. By counting pages, you can determine where power resided in the underworld; no surprises here, with most of the hoods living in or near New York, followed by Los Angeles, then Chicago. My favorites are the gangsters who turn up all alone in some random nowhere, like an exotic longnose butterflyfish found in a swamp in, say, Hannibal, Mo. Joseph Bonanno, a k a Joe Bananas, lived at 1847 East Elm Street in Tucson and was said to have a business interest in the Grande Cheese Company of Fond du Lac, Wis. Luigi Fratto (5-foot-3 1/2, 173 pounds; “heavy build and wears glasses”) lived at 115 Caulder Avenue in Des Moines and was wonderfully described as “the most influential member of the Mafia in the state of Iowa.” These bare, unworked facts evoke a scene right out of Hemingway, the overcoated wiseguy with the heater, the boy and the cook cowering in the kitchen (“Another bright boy. Ain’t he a bright boy?”), the corn whispering in the fields, as poor Ole Anderson waits in his room, knowing that as soon as he goes out he’ll get it in the face.

“Mafia” resembles a piece of found art. It’s the product of dozens of men who worked over dozens of years, engaged in something entirely utilitarian, with no goal other than keeping a record, which is memory, and no thought of these files ever being read for sport. Yet the result is a group portrait that captures the story of its time. It’s like one of those paintings by Chuck Close: when you stand back, you see the big picture of crime in America, but when you move in you see that this big picture is actually made of hundreds of little pictures, each of which tells its own tiny epic


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/books/review/Cohen2-t.html?ref=books

I think this is a definte buy for me,i think ill have to put this down on my xmas list

I posted this last month, Chopper, but didn't provide a link, like you did. I was VERY disappointed with it. It's mostly obscure old-timers with petty rap sheets. If you can get a used copy for less than 10 bucks it may be worth it, but don't go wasting more than that on it like I did.

Thanks for Pizza Boy i was thiking about ordering it and its about 17 pounds brand new, but after reading what you have said i dont think im going to bother with it at all, when i saw the review i was really pleased it made it sound like the greatest book of Mafia history ever

thanks pb you have saved me some money

Like I say, it's worth 10 bucks, so wait a few months and order it used from AbeBooks.

Will do

Next on my list to read having ordered

Its funny you ahev put thatas my mum bought me that yesterday for xmas as well as five families,i didnt see what else she bought,but im happy with them

You'll enjoy five families

Yeah everyone says its brilliant i was meant to get it ages ago but it never came,its not long till xmas so i avent got much longer to wait

let us know what you think..

Yeah i will do,if its as good as everybody says then i will be pleased

I have just finished reading five famlies and i dont know what to say apart from absolutley amazing one of the finest books i have ever read,loved it absolutley loved it.

Glad you enjoyed it Chopper,excellent book

brilliant mate,just starting the brotherhood and also the englishmen and the mafia,thats about wilf pine black sabaths ex manager who was very friendly with some of the genovese family

Brotherhood is another great book well written,i got through it in aweek in germany.i think you'll enjoy

Im only about 40 pages in so far and im already lovin it

Ive have finished Brootherhoods,i throughly enjoyed it although after a few chapters it was getting a bit boring but it then picked up again and i couldnt put it down.Ive also been reading the mafia files book,my mum bought it me christmas like PizzaBoy says abovei wouldnt pay alot for it but if your really into the mafia you will like it,its not one of the best books out but it is quite usefull as a reference and for putting faces to names.

NEW BOOK ALERT

Jimmy Breslin, the author of "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight", just wrote a new book that will be released in two weeks. Its titled, "The Good Rat - A True Story".

He has a wonderful style of telling a story and this book looks chock-full of them.

Check out the link below:

JIMMY BRESLIN'S NEW BOOK

Burt Kaplan is a doubtful hero...

Looks like a interesting read, im putting this on my wishlist.

Finally brought this book.

Where'd ya bring it?

Bonanno was the biggest, baddest and most honorable gangster who ever lived. If you don't believe it, just read his book.

Still, its a decent read, and I figure you'll enjoy it. I hope so.

I heard many people say that not to believe all thats written in there. So im going into this with a open mind and not except too mcuh.

I enjoyed it,but like you say just take it with a pinch of salt

Just Brought.



£1.98 inc postage on Ebay

I Have this it's ok it covers pretty much everything you will know already,at the start it's very interesting taking about Frankie Yale and the troubles he had with the Irish mob

Thats what i thought, ive put off buying for about 5 years but it was so cheap. But hope its ok, i read the intro and had too laugh.

Just brought

I want that as well,how much was it?

£4.20 on Amazon..

I think i may purchase this

from what i read in brotherhods he sounds likes a interesting charecter but a nut case.

As recommended numerous times by Turnbull (he's a good man), I've started reading Selwyn Raab's FIVE FAMILIES. At almost 800 pages, it'll be quite an undertaking. But so far, so good.

Has anybody read this at all, thinking of getting on ebay..