Wise Guys: Stories of Mobsters from Jersey to Vegas (Adrenaline) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156025498X ISBN 13: 9781560254980

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2003

Synopsis

Wise Guys takes readers into the heart of Sopranos territory, with a collection featuring the work of best-selling writers from E. L. Doctorow (with an account of mobster Dutch Schultz that includes one of the great execution scenes in the literature of the Mob) to Nicholas Pileggi (on Henry Hill's first prison term, overflowing with good pasta and booze). Other pieces include Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain reconstruction of the vicious hit on "Big Paulie" Castellano outside of Spark's Steakhouse (which catapulted John Gotti to leadership of the Gambino family), Mario Puzo's riveting account of a don's ascent (a tale of deceit, murder and, above all, cunning), and Norman Lewis on where it all began: the Sicilian Mafia's battle against Mussolini and its return to greater strength than ever.

About this title

About the Author:

CLINT WILLIS is the series editor of Adrenaline Books. His anthologies for the series include Epic: Stories of Survival from the World's Highest Peaks, Mob: Stories of Death and Betrayal from Organized Crime, and Gangs: Stories of Life and Death from the Street. He is also the series editor of Adrenaline Classics, which includes such hit titles as Joey the Hitman. He lives in Maine.

From Booklist:

Reprising his anthology Mob (2001), editor Willis again raids the vault of previously published Mafiana. Libraries need no reminder of how popular this material is. Reading it is a guilty pleasure luring us into the criminal world's depravity, greed, and hypocrisy--there is no honor among these thieves and killers. This collection covers John Gotti's 1985 takedown of Paul Castellano as well as the bragging of a contract murderer, whose tell-all Killer (1973, reissued as Joey the Hit Man, 2002), is a sturdy seller in the Mob oeuvre. No mere triggerman, Joey is also a penetrating movie critic who tells us what a joke The Godfather movies are. What else is here? A GQ article about Ohio's Mahoning County, reputed to be "the most crooked county in America." A profile of the Bulger brothers of South Boston, one a stone-eyed killer, the other a gregarious pol. Yarns from Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New York's Chinatown round out the collection. Sure to circulate. Gilbert Taylor
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About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 156025498X
• ISBN 13: 9781560254980
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 364
• Editor: Willis Clint