Review by gabrielab - Wiseguy

gabrielab 's review for:

Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi

4.75

dark funny informative fast-paced

"For Henry and his wiseguy friends the world was golden. Everything was covered. They lived in an environment awash in crime, and those who did not partake were simply viewed as prey. To live otherwise was foolish."

Podcasts are usually my go-to for any mafia-related content, but I saw that one of my friends here read and liked Wiseguy, so I decided to give it a go. And I'm so glad I did because this was such a good book. I expected it to maybe be slow at times, being a nonfiction, but the story was told so well, I couldn't put the book down from 30% on. I'd say this book had just the right amount of information without being too detailed to the point of getting boring, but enough to just understand the connections between places, characters, events. There was such a good flow from one event to the other and also from Pileggi's narration to Henry and Karen's points of view. It was also high action at times, it succeeded in making me anxious, especially towards the end, and it was an overall quick and enjoyable read.

I have to admit, despite the topic covered, Wiseguy even managed to be fun at times, but mostly it was just baffling and quite morbid. It just seems crazy, though not at all surprising, to learn about the way these guys operate and think, how little regard they have for everyone around them, including family and friends, what kind of motivations they have and how far they'd go in their schemes. I'd say out of all the people introduced, the stories around Jimmy Burke and Tommy DeSimone were definitely the most shocking.

"I think if you ever offered Jimmy a billion dollars not to steal, he’d turn you down and then try to figure out how to steal it from you. It was the only thing he enjoyed. It kept him alive."

It was also shocking to learn how protected they were. It is well-known that they had people in power, congressman, policemen, lawyers, etc. on their payroll, but it was hard for me to grasp before just how connected they were, the types of networks they were part of and how much of a joke was for them to get arrested or have to deal with the cops.

Wiseguy definitely made me curious to follow-up the topic by finding some good stories about some of the members Hill mentioned and I'd also like to give a try to [b:On the Run: A Mafia Childhood|1576332|On the Run A Mafia Childhood|Gregg Hill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441893124l/1576332._SX50_.jpg|1569071] and see a different side of him from his children's perspective. Nonetheless, for people interested in Mafia and The Five Families, I'd say this book provides great insight into that, the Lucchese family in particular.

Content Warnings