Scan barcode
pr727's review against another edition
4.0
As I was listening to the audiobook, the FBI made a site visit to a New Jersey landfill, following yet another lead on the location of Hoffa’s remains. Learning the details of what Hoffa was doing to regain leadership roles in the Teamsters was interesting. As was the illegal and disturbing efforts RFK made to “get” Hoffa. There were several geographical errors that jumped out to this Michigan native: Saline is in Washtenaw county, not Oakland and The St. Clair Inn is in St. Clair, not Port Huron. Surprising that these were not caught and corrected. And then there’s the mispronunciation of Lake Orion as “O’Ryan” - we say “Oar e un”. Although the author’s stepfather hints are who was responsible and aware but not who did the deed or the whereabouts of Hoffa’s final resting place, it is a worthwhile read.
momey's review against another edition
4.0
As a child and youth I lived through the Jimmy Hoffa/ Bobby Kennedy hooha and subsequent assassination of Hoffa. Its always intrigued me for two reasons: the first being the obvious of the unsolved murder but the second, the animosity between Kennedy and Hoffa. I really didnt get that and I still don't get it. I would really like to think of Bobby Kennedy as a hero/saint figure but his pursuit of Hoffa with all its legal and constitutional violations sets such a paradox violating that ideal.
jaredw1974's review against another edition
5.0
Really interesting read, both from a historical perspective and a personal one. His research about the crime and attempts to shine greater spotlight on the truth was excellent. In addition, the author’s blending of the historical record with the personal lives of himself, Chuckie, and their family just added a much richer context than what would have already been a fantastic book. I highly recommend this one.
candecast's review
5.0
I've always been fascinated with Hoffa. I grew up in Detroit during his hay days and can recall driving past the Teamster union hall on Trumbull Ave. My grandfather lived right around the corner. I actually got to shake his hand one time when I briefly moved back to Detroit in the early 70's. He has just been pardoned by Nixon. Strong handshake. O'Brien writes a very moving account of his father's (step father) relationship with Hoffa and while doing so paints a nostalgic picture of labor's by gone era. I am a sucker for a good mafia story and this one didn't let me down.
natiruho's review
4.0
An intriguing book with a timely release. Goldsmith's work contradicts Martin Scorsese's film, The Irishman. In the film, Frank Sheeran is portrayed as Jimmy Hoffa's confidant. Whereas in reality, Hoffa took in Chuckie O'Brien (the main protagonist in this book who literally shadowed Hoffa) as a son and later as his right hand man for many years. There are many other details in the book that counter what is told in the film.
Goldsmith provided in-depth historical research from Hoffa's Teamsters years up to his disappearance. More interestingly, Goldsmith is the son in law to O'Brien.
If you are interested in the Hoffa disappearance, American legal history and the American Mafia, you will enjoy reading this book.
Goldsmith provided in-depth historical research from Hoffa's Teamsters years up to his disappearance. More interestingly, Goldsmith is the son in law to O'Brien.
If you are interested in the Hoffa disappearance, American legal history and the American Mafia, you will enjoy reading this book.
beckmank's review
4.0
Interesting book on the Hoffa disappearance. Jack Goldsmith investigates to try and clear his stepfather's name (Chuckie O’Brien). I liked the take on this book, which focused on the relationship Jack had with Chuckie and the perspective that gave him.
astacia's review
2.0
The parts about Chuckie are interesting. The author made it a memoir as much as trying to exonerate is stepfather, so I can't say it was great.
sdbecque's review
4.0
"I had many reasons to think the truth would be elusive, and not just because of Chuckie's evasions. As one FBI agent who worked the case in the 1970s told me, much of what the public knows about Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance is "science fiction." For forty-five years, public knowledge has been shaped by unreliable informants, tendentious government leaks, credulous journalists, or aging (and now-dead) mob figures looking to make a buck. Book after book and article after article has provided different theories of Hoffa's death, almost all of which involve Chuckie. And yet there is still not one single piece of direct evident about what happened to Hoffa on the afternoon of July 30, 1975."
When I was growing up, my mother would often comment about the state of my bedroom or closet with a comment, "Jimmy Hoffa's probably in there somewhere." You might imagine that in grade school I had no idea what she was talking about. At some point I came to understand Hoffa's disappearance in vague terms. Then I heard Jack Goldsmith talking about this book on Fresh Air and I wanted to know more.
This is a hell of a book. It's like five books all in one. It's part a brief history of organized labor, a brief history of Italian organized crime, a brief history of government surveillance, a discussion of the Hoffa disappearance, and it's also a memoir about a son and his step-father. The stories are layered and interestingly told. I learned a lot. I ended up reading it not long after I watched "The Irishman" and I'm ready to start a justice for Chuckie campaign.
If you're just here to see who did it, don't worry Goldsmith even with all his Justice Department connections can't crack the Hoffa cold case either. We'll probably never know. What's clear (I think) is that Chuckie was not involved with the disappearance, and that the focus on Chuckie stopped the FBI from investigating other leads and probably destroying our odds of ever find out what really happened. And at this point it's like the finale of Game of Thrones it's not going to be as satisfying as you want it to be. But it's still a hell of a story. Would recommend, especially if you want to know more about Hoffa.
"This book started off as an effort to understand Chuckie's role in Hoffa's disappearance, but it grew to be about much more. It is about how a hapless blabbermouth with famously terrible judgement served as a close aide to both Hoffa and a top Detroit mob figure, both of whom trusted him with their most intimate secrets. It is about how an uneducated serial lawbreaker with mob values nourished his vulnerable stepson at a critical stage in his life to set him on a path that led to the Justice Department and Harvard Law School. It's about Chuckie's life, and mine, in the forty-five year vortex of the Hoffa disappearance, and my changing thoughts, over the course of my life, about these events. And it is about what I learned about truth-telling-from Chuckie's tragic ensnarement between two ruthless father figures and implacable government investigators, and from my relationship with Chuckie."
When I was growing up, my mother would often comment about the state of my bedroom or closet with a comment, "Jimmy Hoffa's probably in there somewhere." You might imagine that in grade school I had no idea what she was talking about. At some point I came to understand Hoffa's disappearance in vague terms. Then I heard Jack Goldsmith talking about this book on Fresh Air and I wanted to know more.
This is a hell of a book. It's like five books all in one. It's part a brief history of organized labor, a brief history of Italian organized crime, a brief history of government surveillance, a discussion of the Hoffa disappearance, and it's also a memoir about a son and his step-father. The stories are layered and interestingly told. I learned a lot. I ended up reading it not long after I watched "The Irishman" and I'm ready to start a justice for Chuckie campaign.
If you're just here to see who did it, don't worry Goldsmith even with all his Justice Department connections can't crack the Hoffa cold case either. We'll probably never know. What's clear (I think) is that Chuckie was not involved with the disappearance, and that the focus on Chuckie stopped the FBI from investigating other leads and probably destroying our odds of ever find out what really happened. And at this point it's like the finale of Game of Thrones it's not going to be as satisfying as you want it to be. But it's still a hell of a story. Would recommend, especially if you want to know more about Hoffa.
"This book started off as an effort to understand Chuckie's role in Hoffa's disappearance, but it grew to be about much more. It is about how a hapless blabbermouth with famously terrible judgement served as a close aide to both Hoffa and a top Detroit mob figure, both of whom trusted him with their most intimate secrets. It is about how an uneducated serial lawbreaker with mob values nourished his vulnerable stepson at a critical stage in his life to set him on a path that led to the Justice Department and Harvard Law School. It's about Chuckie's life, and mine, in the forty-five year vortex of the Hoffa disappearance, and my changing thoughts, over the course of my life, about these events. And it is about what I learned about truth-telling-from Chuckie's tragic ensnarement between two ruthless father figures and implacable government investigators, and from my relationship with Chuckie."