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Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia (Hodder Great Reads)

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Author: Joseph D Pistone
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

9 reviews
Sales Rank: 29888

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.1

ISBN: 0340922656
EAN: 9780340922651
ASIN: 0340922656

Publication Date: June 5, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Unread. Fast Delivery.

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Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book July 17, 2008
I like many people have watched the film before reading the book. Like the film this book is excellent and goes into a little more detail. Highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars

Far Better than the Movie June 5, 2008
I Came across this story first as a side line in many Mafia/Mob based books and then the Movie. This book far outshines them all. It has to be one of the best, most truthful portrayals of the American Mafia I have come across. The book has the added advantage of being written by someone outside the mob going in. Pistone shares our values and curiosity for detail where it matters. This is no egotystical mob defector this guy is an ex FBI undercover officer. It covers 6 years of undercover work during the late 70s and early 80s infiltrating the Bonanno family amongst others. This book shines a light on the lesser, street mob characters but infinately more interesting such as Ben "Lefty" Ruggiero and Sonny Black. ITS A MUST READ for any Mafia fan.

5 out of 5 stars

Remarkable. He nearly became a made man February 25, 2008
The journey of Joseph. D. Pistone aka Brasco is extraordinary. to have been undercover for 6 years and then nearly getting initiated into the mafia must have meant having nerves of steel. This book is a must for those interested in the decline of the Bonanno family, although it came back strong under Joey Massino, and the mob in general. Gives you a good insight in to Dominick 'Sonny Black' Napolitano and his interraction with Brasco. If you think the film is good then get a load of this.

4 out of 5 stars

I'm a girl and yet shock horror I still liked it! May 7, 2007
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

This ia a really good read for most of the time. It is fascinating true life story of agent Joe Pistone who infiltrated the mafia and helped bring about over 100 convictions, he was so good he was within a whisker of being made a 'made' guy, an actual mafia member. Some reviewers seem confused by this book (see below) and seem to think it's fiction stating that Donnie Brasco wouldn't have survived 2 seconds...ummm...he was undercover for 6 years, it's true story you idiot! Anyway apparently 'one for the lads' but will be enjoyed by anyone who likes reading about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. My few minor quibbles are that after a while the endless scores and neverending list of badguys names becomes confusing and a bit boring but overall the story itself is so strong that it carries it off.

2 out of 5 stars

Who does he think he is? February 5, 2007
0 out of 14 found this review helpful

This book starts off really well. But the more you read, the more you realise he is only involved with the lower end of the mafia scale. In every chapter he sets up the "big score" or "the big deal" but then fails to follow through because he is an agent of the FBI. In one chapter he pretends to want to buy some heroin, but instead buys some cannabis, in Miami. Fair enough. But why would he need somebody to fly from New York to verify the quality of this cannabis, at mafia expense? If he is so "connected" or so streetwise why couldn't somebody in Miami try it out??? Ridiculous, the whole book. He often goes back to his family, meets other agents in his hotel room, whilst all the time other "wiseguys" are being followed by mafia people. The way Donnie Brasco behaves he'd be caught out in a second. And deservedly so! Garbage.