Originally Posted By: streetbossliborio
Originally Posted By: Lou_Para
I read the book a while ago,and though Bonanno mentions Families and the Commission,a lot of the book is a self serving ego fest. When he refers to Mafia Bosses as "Fathers" and to Mob life as his "Tradition", it's pretty laughable. If you didn't know better,and read his book you would think that most of the time,the Mafia works like this: "My friend Giovanni has a bakery,but the poor man can't get flour because of the war. My friend Vito has a flour mill,but can't deliver because his horse is sick. So i ask my friend Vincenzo,who was a farmer back home, to look at the horse.The horse gets well, Giovanni gets his flour and everyone is happy. Maybe at Christmas I get a loaf of bread from Giovanni,but that would be out of gratitude and certainly not because he felt compelled. Honest,we're just a bunch of Friends who help each other out. And sometimes kill people. Oh shit, did I write that last part down? ummm Non Capisce,arrividerci."



to a certain extent but he must believe that. the guy was brought up to be a godfather with the name bonnano. and dont forget in Sicily when he was growing the 'fathers' were highly respected as people. the name bonnano was seen as elite. i can see where he makes these statements as he is looking back at his past and what his father taught him. but yeah he definitely forgets to leave out the murders, the drugs he denies and even condemns. this autobiography was for his kids and for people to remember him by. i would leave the shit out too.


Good post. Some few passages in his book are written metaphorically. That´s something to keep in mind before denouncing the book. And yes, he leaves out murders he ordered or commited and he never mentions anybody alive involved with that life by the time the book was released. How can anyone claim that the leaving out of incriminating stuff is not understandable? The existence of the Commission was a known fact before the book came out so the claim of him exposing it, is far fetched.

To fully enjoy the book, you need to understand Bonanno and where Bonanno comes from. If you fail doing this, knowledge about the early Mafia and what it was all supposed to be about, will be lost on you. And that´s a shame if you have a burning interest in the history of the Mafia.

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