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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Took a really long break on this book but I loved it, just as I loved the movie. What an intriguing story!!
challenging
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
dark
informative
slow-paced
The disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa is one of the great unsolved crimes of modern times. Over the course of five years, Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran spoke about his entire life; from his time in active combat serving in World War 2 to getting to know and working for crime boss, Russell Bufalino. Sheeran rose through the ranks and became one of only two non-Italians on the list of 26 most wanted people within the Mob. During the course of the conversations Sheeran lifts the lid on a most infamous chapter in US and Mafia history and finally puts to bed the question of what happened to the Teamsters boss.
I bought this book for my Dad a few Christmases ago and finally got round to borrowing it from him to read myself.
It’s been quite a slow read for me, which isn’t to say I haven’t enjoyed it, I really have, but the pages are quite dense with text and I found myself googling for background in places because I wanted to know more about some of the events and places Sheeran was talking about.
Brandt takes his time and goes over Sheeran’s whole life, rather than skipping to his career with the mob. He makes a good case for his long tour of duty in World War 2 contributing to his attitude towards killing once he has come back to the US.
It’s an incredibly well written book, with Brandt making it clear which parts were in Sheeran’s own words and which were additional information supplied by Brandt to give greater background to the reader.
Not only does Sheeran lift the lid on the Hoffa disappearance but he also discusses one of the great conspiracies of our time, the assassination of JFK.
I honestly have no notes on this at all.
I was relieved when i couldnt open this e-book any more because the library took it back... maybe at about 75%. The first half was interesting if you are into reading about violent criminals but it really wears on and on after awhile... Like after some people start going to trial, and there are very long recitations of similar conversations about union struggles and lawyering, and lots of seemingly unimportant details that eventually become extremely boring. For example, I can only hear about individual cases of jury tampering so many times before I'm over it. And LOL at another 2-star review that suggests this is a sort of Frank S as Forrest Gump mafia figure, involved over at over at critical moments of major historical events... It does indeed defy credibility in many ways. Also, The Irishman is definitely a movie adaptation that is far better than the book it was based on, IMO. A slog.
I do like organized crime, having dazed through the Godfather trilogy the day my wisdom teeth were removed and recently watching Goodfellas on an airplane. I also like Irish men (and Irish women, for that matter). What drew me to this book was not the Netflix special I'll never watch, but the specter of Russel Buffalino which looms over my hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
I'm a pretty dark, detached dude, but by the end of I Heard You Paint Houses, I found my interest in the criminal underworld waning. It just seems so senseless when considering that rampant corruption continues to do so much damage to my home region in Pennslyvania.
This was all before my time, and, as the foreword suggested, I had no idea who Jimmy Hoffa was. There's this weird persistent irony where the narrative has to be constructed partially from Frank Sheeran's bedside testimony but that his speaking or "slightly nodding" in response to the author's questioning is heretical. Makes for good books and great television, but drives home the point that nobody living this life could ever truly reconcile the financial loss they caused or the grief they inflicted.
I'm a pretty dark, detached dude, but by the end of I Heard You Paint Houses, I found my interest in the criminal underworld waning.
Spoiler
Okay, you transported the rifles supposedly used to kill JFK. Okay, you killed Jimmy Hoffa and the FBI immediately identified almost all of the prime suspects.This was all before my time, and, as the foreword suggested, I had no idea who Jimmy Hoffa was. There's this weird persistent irony where the narrative has to be constructed partially from Frank Sheeran's bedside testimony but that his speaking or "slightly nodding" in response to the author's questioning is heretical. Makes for good books and great television, but drives home the point that nobody living this life could ever truly reconcile the financial loss they caused or the grief they inflicted.
“If you can’t trust a man who murdered one of his best friends, who can you trust?”
This dragged a little in the middle (when Hoffa was in jail and it was mostly about union politics) but was very interesting at the beginning and riveting towards the end. Those 3 concluding chapters?? Unreal, read them in one sitting, I’m obsessed.
This dragged a little in the middle (when Hoffa was in jail and it was mostly about union politics) but was very interesting at the beginning and riveting towards the end. Those 3 concluding chapters?? Unreal, read them in one sitting, I’m obsessed.
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced