Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
dark
informative
slow-paced
This book goes into detail, in true Peter Maas fashion, about the life, times, and crimes of Sammy The Bull Gravano. It gives a really interesting and detailed account of the amounts of crimes that Sammy got up to, as well as his associates. It is wild how many things that organized crime has a hand in. This book also goes into detail about the circumstances surrounding Sammy's turning informant. I thought this was a very interesting read.
Underboss is a great place to start if one is looking to learn about American organized crime in the late nineteen hundreds. Besides arguably Al Capone, there is no other member of the Cosa Nostra that has reached Sammy's level of fame and infamy, that was also connected to all aspects of the life.
The book can be hard to follow at times with all the Italian names, nicknames and how conversations are conveyed but it reads easy and is quite entertaining at the end of the day, I enjoyed reading and look forward to the next time I do. If you're after audio/video content, a great majority of the content in the book can be found on Salvatore's YouTube for free, where they suck you in just as much.
The book can be hard to follow at times with all the Italian names, nicknames and how conversations are conveyed but it reads easy and is quite entertaining at the end of the day, I enjoyed reading and look forward to the next time I do. If you're after audio/video content, a great majority of the content in the book can be found on Salvatore's YouTube for free, where they suck you in just as much.
I found the mafia stories interesting but it was also very humanizing for him as well.
dark
medium-paced
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is an American gangster. He became the underboss of the Gambino crime family. In this book The Bull relates the events leading up to his helping with the prosecution sentence John Gotti, the crime family's boss. He agreed to testify as a government witness against him. Along with other mobsters in a deal in which he confessed to involvement in 19 murders.
Sammy the Bull has an unbelievable memory. He can recall names and facts about many parts of his life. Which suggests it was Sammy and not Gotti, who was the brains of the Gambino family. He tried running things, quietly and in the ways of Cosa Nostra.
Gravano frequently returns to the theme of living his life based on the rules of Cosa Nostra. You may ask, isn’t Gravano hypocritical for talking about Cosa Nostra when he turned into a rat against John Gotti?
One of the best books about the Mafia I've read.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced