Wiseguy Mass Market Paperback – May 25, 2010

If you love the movie, you’re gonna love the book. Like any book, he gives you a lot more details than the movies or shows ever do. If you’re an often reader, you’ll get through this in a couple days.

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I must have seen "Goodfellas" so many times that I can't even remember HOW many times I've seen it. I've been wanting to read "Wise Guy" for YEARS now.......and when I tell people this, they say, "Just watch the film!" Even though, as I've stated, I've seen it MANY times before. You would think that there's no reason to read the novel it was based on, right? Wrong. Nicholas Pileggi's engrossing, fascinating, oft-times frightening (and at the SAME time), very funny "Wise Guy" is something you MUST read to get the full impact of the life of Henry Hill.......who, at the very young age of 12, started on his path of a life of crime that saw him run with some of the most notorious gangsters, killers & con men of his era of organized crime. One of the most striking thing about this tome was that I didn't feel myself sitting and thinking about the film, and wondering, "When's the scene going to happen where Tommy kills Spider?" Or "Hey, when does Billy "Batts" show up"? Instead, you're feeling yourself drawn into Henry's world and finding out things that they DIDN'T talk about in the film. Lots of different characters that Henry was actually more closer to than Tommy or Jimmy, such as one of Paul Vario's sons. The side scams that he used to have with SO many other characters that you didn't even hear about when watching "Goodfellas"........and the fact that Henry, early in his teen years, actually started feeling the desire to get out of "the life" .........by enlisting in the army. Where he actually recounts taking a LIKING to it! But then seeing how he invariably is drawn back into it. One wonders if the line from ANOTHER famous Mafioso figure in movies ("Just when I thought I was OUT........they pull me back IN!"), had anything to do with Henry Hill. There are SO many different scenarios & settings and things that I could go through here as examples that you didn't get to see in the film, but it has to be experienced for oneself. If you've read it, you'll already know what I mean, if you DIDN'T........pick up a copy and see for yourself. For me, one of the things that I really enjoyed of this read is the fact that I'm a born & raised Queens, N.Y. native, and just the way Hill recounts all his experiences (more so in his adult years, he was born and raised in East N.Y., Brooklyn), but his remembering of his nightclub, The Suite, on Queens Blvd., or The Sherwood Diner on Rockaway Blvd.........it reminds ME of those days when, in hushed whispers, people would talk about "certain places" where "pinky rings" used to hang. Sort of nostalgic, in a way.......but NOT in a good way. What is the MOST endearing thing about "Wise Guy" is that in the end.......just like in the film it was made into..... this is NOT the life you would want to become YOUR'S. After reading this, I felt that it could become required reading for juvenile delinquents, or troubled youth. You don't have to send them to a prison on a field trip to get scared straight. Let them read THIS.... they'll get the message a lot faster.

Interesting book that sheds daylight on some of the incidents in the movie that were a little muddy.Interesting though that as history has revealed Henry and Karen actually had 1 boy and 1 girl not 2 girls as it’s reads throughout the book. Also the book paints a picture of Henry Hill after all the testimony as a upstanding citizen and as it turns out he struggled at sobriety and was in and out of the drug business till his death.

great story

I can’t believe it took me 32 years to finally read the book that helped create arguably the greatest movie of all time. After reading Wise Guy, I noticed how Scorsese took creative license with some of Henry’s life story but overall, the book generally depicted the movie accurately and provided additional context into Henry’s crazy world. However, in one of those rare instances, the movie was better than the book but still a good read nonetheless.

Decent book, movie better

This was a very fast read. I enjoyed the one one interviews at various spots to provide insight on one topic from diff Dr ent angles. I wondered throughout the reading how many of these "wiseguys" never get caught.

This is the best book on the Mafia/organised crime I have read to date. If it was possible, I would give it 5+ stars, as I thought it was that good. If you read no other Mafia/organised crime book, read this one. You won't be disappointed.For those who have seen the film Goodfellas (like I have) and enjoyed the movie (and I haven't met many people who haven't) then this is essential reading as this book gives more detail and also highlights some of the variations that Scorsese has made in the film in comparison to this. I think it makes both the movie and this book even more interesting though.For those that haven't seen the movie, this book describes the activities of how the Lucchese crime family in New York operated between the 50's-80's from the point of view of street level gangster who turns informant, Henry Hill. Henry Hill was unique in that he had access to many levels and areas of organised crime despite not being a 'made man'. From a young age he was involved in hijacking, robbery, gambling, loan sharking, arms dealing, drugs, extortion, the list goes on. He was friends with Paul Vario (a boss within the Lucchese crime family) and his family (in terms of both genetic and in an organised crime sense), as well as his 'mentor' and friend, Jimmy Burke (a gangster who specialised in hijacking and theft) and other crime figures. This book also has commentary from his wife, Karen Hill, adding a different dimension to the story.Everything seems to fit together perfectly in this book. How Henry grows up with the mafia, how he hustles, his different schemes, how he meets the different people who influence his life, Paul Vario, Jimmy Burke, Tommy DeSimone, Karen Hill, his time in prison, drugs, murder, his decision to become an informant. I haven't found another book of this genre that comes close to being as readable and entertaining.This book is from the point of view of a 'street mechanic', someone who knows how everything works and that is what makes it a cut above other books of this genre that are mostly journalistic crime hypotheses or old mafia bosses trying to justify a life of greed and self indulgence as if their crimes are a work of art.My only regret is that it has taken me over 30 years to read this book (it was published in 1985!) but I shall be purchasing Pileggi's book Casino on the strength of this book. It has a helluva lot to live up to!!

Great narration from Pileggi and forward by Scorcese. There are a few bits in the book missing from the film and a few dramatisations in the film that were a little different to the book. Throughout reading the book, you can't help remembering the related bits in the film, and how accurate and even word-for-word some bits are. It's not a long read and I think its brevity is a good thing. Thoroughly enjoyable and insightful. The only issue and the reason for a missing star is the price of the book vs the quality of the paper and cover. The cover fells like a manila envelope.

Thoroughly entertaining book.Telling the story of one man’s life of crime.It relates the story of an almost parallel life in organised crime against a backdrop of normal life.The pages just turn themselves and it’s really hard to put this book down as the story just flows from year to year through late 1960’s and 70’s.Brilliant.

Scorcese used this as a basis for Goodfellas and he followed a brilliant account. Hill and his wifes quoted remarks and comments really brings it all alive and Scorcese was sharp and talented enough to make it real on screen. It is far superior as a book to Casino by the same author because the accounts by the first hand storiesare so much more observant and sharp. Casino needed a real filmmaker to bring to life...here the script was already totally absorbing

Bought this as a gift for someone so cannot comment on the content, but the quality of the book was good and it was delivered in good shape.