This is perhaps an unanswerable question, but I'll ask it anyway: Why did Joe Bonanno, uniquely among mobsters of his generation, have such an urge to tell the world about himself and his life as a "Father"? Not only did he write his autobiography, something completely unprecedented for a Mafia don, but he gave an interview for 60 Minutes and a five hour plus movie for Showtime (Bonanno: A Godfather's Story) was made with his son Bill as executive producer! Not only did no other Mafia leader of his generation do anything comparable, they generally tried to stay as low profile as possible (although there were some exceptions like Sam Giancana). You didn't see Carlo Gambino or Tony Accardo going around telling the public how great they were. Not to mention the fact that omerta, the code of silence, was regarded as one of the key principles the Mafia ran on. And it's not as if he ever turned state's evidence like Sammy Gravano and others and only then started talking. So why did Bonanno do it?
Last edited by VitoC; 02/07/1111:42 PM.
Let me tell ya somethin my kraut mick friend!
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#593489 02/08/1102:01 AM02/08/1102:01 AM
He also felt this thing was over and actually described the mafia as a process. The book was definitely self serving, but I liked it. People seem to forget that Lucky Luciano was close to doing the same exact thing. He was giving interviews left and right and he also wanted to do a movie about his life. Luciano and Bonanno were very different from each other, but in the end, they had a lot in common.
"What is given, can be taken away. Everyone lies. Everyone dies." - Casey Anthony, in a poem, July 7, 2008
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#593503 02/08/1106:23 AM02/08/1106:23 AM
He also felt this thing was over and actually described the mafia as a process. The book was definitely self serving, but I liked it. People seem to forget that Lucky Luciano was close to doing the same exact thing. He was giving interviews left and right and he also wanted to do a movie about his life. Luciano and Bonanno were very different from each other, but in the end, they had a lot in common.
You make a good point about Luciano, I had heard that before he died he was indeed considering making a movie about himself.
Let me tell ya somethin my kraut mick friend!
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#593517 02/08/1111:30 AM02/08/1111:30 AM
He also felt this thing was over and actually described the mafia as a process. The book was definitely self serving, but I liked it. People seem to forget that Lucky Luciano was close to doing the same exact thing. He was giving interviews left and right and he also wanted to do a movie about his life. Luciano and Bonanno were very different from each other, but in the end, they had a lot in common.
You make a good point about Luciano, I had heard that before he died he was indeed considering making a movie about himself.
Another of their contemporaries who was very outspoken was Mickey Cohen. Although he was Jewish and could never be made, he exercised a great deal of power on the west coast, especially in the movie business. Towards the end of his life, he would give an interview to just about anyone who was willing to listen.
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: pizzaboy]
#593521 02/08/1111:55 AM02/08/1111:55 AM
He also felt this thing was over and actually described the mafia as a process. The book was definitely self serving, but I liked it. People seem to forget that Lucky Luciano was close to doing the same exact thing. He was giving interviews left and right and he also wanted to do a movie about his life. Luciano and Bonanno were very different from each other, but in the end, they had a lot in common.
You make a good point about Luciano, I had heard that before he died he was indeed considering making a movie about himself.
Another of their contemporaries who was very outspoken was Mickey Cohen. Although he was Jewish and could never be made, he exercised a great deal of power on the west coast, especially in the movie business. Towards the end of his life, he would give an interview to just about anyone who was willing to listen.
Yeah Mickey Cohen was quite a character and most people seemed to like him. Didn't he go on Carson a few times?
"What is given, can be taken away. Everyone lies. Everyone dies." - Casey Anthony, in a poem, July 7, 2008
when Luciano died of a heart attack at airport of Naples in 1962, he will meet with a producer to make a movie about his life (it said that he was poisoned because this). Junior Gotti will produce the film about his father, the Teflon Don, I think Gotti, if was alive, he would have written the script himself . Times change, growin up Gotti, would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.
. . . growin up Gotti, would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.
"Growing Up Gotti" is unthinkable now. The Gottis are a poor example because they layed the groundwork for ruining the whole thing with publicity. The daughter is as bad as the father was.
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#593831 02/10/1104:43 PM02/10/1104:43 PM
He definitely did it because of ego. The majority of the people he dealt with were all dead by the time he wrote that book. It was his chance to get the last word, to portray himself as a hero as a man of honor. The most comical part about the book is how he says he NEVER dealt in drugs or allowed his family to. Notice how he NEVER mentions carmine galante in the book? He doesn't once mention how carmine drove for him, he doesn't mention his as a capo or anything. Carmine Galante was a major player in the bonanno family but if you went on the book alone you would never know who he is.
Last edited by Mooney; 02/12/1103:41 PM.
"Thank God for the American Jury System" - Nicky Scarfo
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: Mooney]
#594056 02/12/1106:29 PM02/12/1106:29 PM
He definitely did it because of ego. The majority of the people he dealt with were all dead by the time he wrote that book. It was his chance to get the last word, to portray himself as a hero as a man of honor. The most comical part about the book is how he says he NEVER dealt in drugs or allowed his family to. Notice how he NEVER mentions carmine galante in the book? He doesn't once mention how carmine drove for him, he doesn't mention his as a capo or anything. Carmine Galante was a major player in the bonanno family but if you went on the book alone you would never know who he is.
On the A&E biography of Bonanno, they show clips of his (and his son Bill's) interview with Mike Wallace. In one clip, Bonanno says "If Carmine Galante, without my knowledge, is dealing with narcotics, I never know, and this I don't have to swear, but I can swear on anything."
Let me tell ya somethin my kraut mick friend!
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#594767 02/17/1103:18 PM02/17/1103:18 PM
He definitely did it because of ego. The majority of the people he dealt with were all dead by the time he wrote that book. It was his chance to get the last word, to portray himself as a hero as a man of honor. The most comical part about the book is how he says he NEVER dealt in drugs or allowed his family to. Notice how he NEVER mentions carmine galante in the book? He doesn't once mention how carmine drove for him, he doesn't mention his as a capo or anything. Carmine Galante was a major player in the bonanno family but if you went on the book alone you would never know who he is.
On the A&E biography of Bonanno, they show clips of his (and his son Bill's) interview with Mike Wallace. In one clip, Bonanno says "If Carmine Galante, without my knowledge, is dealing with narcotics, I never know, and this I don't have to swear, but I can swear on anything."
Yeah i have seen that, but still no mention of carmine in his book.
"Thank God for the American Jury System" - Nicky Scarfo
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#928027 01/30/1804:02 AM01/30/1804:02 AM
The only reason they didn't clip him was because of his lineage.
That is not the only reason. They give the Ok to whack Bonanno it gives precedent for entrenched confirmed family Dons to be killed/taken out....not something you want to condone when you are a boss.
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#928116 01/31/1803:52 PM01/31/1803:52 PM
"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: OakAsFan]
#928158 01/31/1811:43 PM01/31/1811:43 PM
Yes, ego and "respectability" were part of Bonanno's motivation (the book was BS but it was interesting), But, I think another reason was to get back at the Commission:
The Commission deposed him as Don after Joe Colombo ratted out his and Magliocco's plot against Gambino and Lucchese. A long, destructive internal war ensued, and both Bonannos went underground. Joe resurfaced in 1966 but by that time few were left in his family who were loyal to him. So, he stepped down as Don (so he says, but I think the Commission forced him to recognize the obvious). They gave him a pass in return for his retirement.
The book has plenty of nasty stuff against other Dons. But, the most important thing is that Rudy Giuliani, who was then US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, read it and found in Bonanno's description of the Commission the perfect description of a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization as defined by the RICO Act. It was the basis of his successful prosecution of the Dons in the famous Commission case.
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#928189 02/01/1811:07 AM02/01/1811:07 AM
So, Bonanno got the last laugh. Look at what the families have been since the Commission case. And, Joe lived to 2002. Got to witness the dominoes fall.
"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: OakAsFan]
#928205 02/01/1803:25 PM02/01/1803:25 PM
So, Bonanno got the last laugh. Look at what the families have been since the Commission case. And, Joe lived to 2002. Got to witness the dominoes fall.
Yep, he lived long enough to see his beloved 'tradition' go to shit, in part because of his own revelations.. I wonder if he ever had some conflicting feelings about the book..
Seems that was his intention, Brizzi. He took a match to the whole thing.
"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
Re: Joe Bonanno's Mouth
[Re: VitoC]
#928258 02/02/1811:24 AM02/02/1811:24 AM