The book was hard to take seriously for this exact reason. Phillip Carlo wrote this book as if he were the captain of the Casso fan club:
"He became the mobster most talked about, pointed at, admired—a man of respect everyone wanted as a friend. If Casso became an enemy, you had to leave town or you were quickly dead. Unlike John Gotti, however, Casso didn’t flaunt himself."
"Though he didn’t officially have his own borgata, when Casso came to sit-downs, he was treated with the deference owed a respected boss. He was a nine-hundred-pound gorilla, a wise, wary mafioso."
"Gravano, like DeMeo, met all his obligations when dealing with Gaspipe. He, like DeMeo, respected Gaspipe, knew his reputation, and didn’t try to fuck him. He understood that doing that was a one-way trip to the morgue."
Lol, these exact quotes (and many others) left me rolling my eyes over Carlo's writing. Here's another one.....Tony Ducks badly wanted Casso to be his successor. When Casso declined, Ducks was saddened. But he promoted Amuso to the top spot only because he knew Gas would be there to advise and guide him. Based on Gas's involvement as an advisor, the family would be in good hands. (ROFL)
That's why I usually refer to the Gaspipe book as an autobiography, not a biography. It's as if Carlo just took whatever came out of Casso's mouth as fact with zero checking. There was no mention about how the leadership of Vic/Gas nearly brought down the family, and they'll go down in history as among the worst bosses in LCN.
I believe to get the full story on the Luccheses (or close to it), one needs to read both Carlo and Capeci's books. The one discrepancy that still confuses me is the physical description of D'Arco. Carlo described him as mousy and nerdy, which resulted in his nickname, The Professor. Capeci described him as a fitness nut, always pounding on the heavy bag, and bullied people in jail.
