The Good Rat: A True Story - Softcover

Breslin, Jimmy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006136388X ISBN 13: 9780061363887

Publisher: Harper Large Print, 2008

Synopsis

Of course Pulitzer Prize winner Jimmy Breslin recognized Burton Kaplan right away as the Mafia witness of the ages. Breslin comes from the same Queens streets as mob bosses John Gotti and Vito Genovese. But even they couldn't match Kaplan in crime—and neither could anybody else.

In his inimitable New York voice, Breslin, "the city's steadiest and most accurate chronicler" (Tom Robbins, Village Voice), gives us a look through the keyhole at the people and places that define the mafia—characters like Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Gaspipe Casso (named for his weapon of choice), Thomas "Three-Finger Brown" Lucchese, and Jimmy "The Clam" Eppolito, interwoven with the good rat himself, Burt Kaplan of Bensonhurst, the star witness in the recent trial of two New York City detectives indicted for acting as hit men in eight gangland executions.

Breslin takes us to the old-time hangouts like Pep McGuire's, the legendary watering hole where reporters and gangsters (all hailing from the same working-class neighborhoods) rubbed elbows and traded stories; the dog-fight circles and body dumps at Ozone Park; and the back room at Midnight Rose's candy store, where Murder, Inc., hired and fired.

Most compelling of all, Breslin captures the moments in which the Mafia was made and broken—Breslin was there the night John Gotti celebrated his acquittal at his Ravenite Social Club on Mulberry, having bribed his way to inno­cence only to incite the wrath of the FBI, who would later crush Gotti and others with the full force of the RICO laws.

As in his unforgettable novel The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, Breslin brings together these real-life and long-forgotten Mafia stories to brilliantly create a sharp-eyed portrait of the mob as it lived and breathed, as it sounded and survived.

About this title

About the Author:

Jimmy Breslin was born in Jamaica, Queens. He was awarded the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary. His bestselling and critically acclaimed books include The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight; Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?; The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Gutiérrez; several anthologies; and the memoir, I Want to Thank My Brain for Remembering Me. He lives on Broadway, the Big Street, in New York City.

From AudioFile:

Richard Davidson has just the gravelly tough-guy voice to bring Breslin's Mafia story to life. But THE GOOD RAT is an unnecessarily complicated story about a good fella named Burt Kaplan who testifies against two NYPD detectives who murdered for the Mob. For authenticity's sake, Breslin has included actual testimony from the trial--which, unfortunately, slows down the pace of the story. The plot also suffers from too much jumping around. Breslin is at his best when he tells a story strictly in his own words and delivers the flamboyant language and colorful characters he's known for--like Tommy "Three-Finger" Brown and Sammy "The Bull" Gravano. M.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Large Print
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 006136388X
• ISBN 13: 9780061363887
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304