Louis Ferrante

A detailed and captivating early history of the development of the mob from Sicily to the U.S. Ferrante is the read deal, he comes from the family origins and served his time in the pen. From here he became a first rate writer and researcher with first hand experience to add to the realism.

The Mafia which has become so engrained in the history of crime in America is a fascinating story and all the players and deeds are detailed my Ferrante that answers a lot of the questions about the who show more and why. I found it a great read and relieved I never crossed any of these characters. I did run into a supposed branch of the Genovese clan out in Nevada years ago however, or so I was told. It was business, a pizza joint with the prerequisite black Lincoln town car. Used presumably for delivery, of something anyway. show less

This is the second book of the trilogy on the Mafia by Louis Ferrante. Another action packed volume as I had read the first and was not disappointed. This volume picks up from the last and deals with particular detail on the story surrounding the Kennedys and father Joe's involvement that lead to the election of son Jack and the nemsis to the mob son Bobby. Ultimately we get to the assasinationation of President Kennedy and Ferrante's fairly convincing arguement of a deep conspiracy that show more implicates the mafia figures tied in through Oswald and Ruby.

He then moves on into the later 60's and beyond in which many sqaubbles between various cheiftans and the body count rolls up. As The previous book a fascinating read with an amazing amount of detail and intrigue. In the back of my mind I keep wandering how is Mr. Ferrante able to spill all the beans and remain intact. Possibly just another part of the mystery surrounding this real life drama. show less

I received Mob Rules: What the Mafia Can Teach the Legitimate Business via the Goodreads First Reads program. While there were a few interesting / amusing anecdotes, overall I don't think this book quite accomplished what it could have.

Mr. Ferrante is a former member of the Mob who spent years in prison, during which he read hundreds of books and taught himself to write. While the grammar is impeccable and the sentence structure sound, Mr. Ferrante doesn't appear to have learned to write show more with any flare. The book was extremely straight forward and there was basically no nuance to the writing.

As far as the content goes, well, most of it was pretty much common sense. Don't burn bridges, don't talk shit about your co-workers, plan ahead. He repeated some of the tips a few times and some of them directly contradicted other tips.

For example, one chapter was called:“Give the Spic Bastard a Call!: Hiring the Best Person, Regardless of Race, Creed, or Sexual Orientation.” Then a few chapters later we read: “The mafia bans gays from membership. As far as I know, they're not about to implement the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy. However, the Mob will deal with anyone, without prejudice.” One of these things is not like the other...

It felt like he was basically trying to get as many tips in as possible. It also didn't seem that most of the tips had a specific connection from the Mob to business. I think they could have easily been written from the perspective of a dog walker. Though there were a few that did directly relate Mob information, such as:

“Being a mobster awakened me to the dangers of a telephone. No one is immune. While a mobster's conversation might be played in court, a businessperson's conversation can be played in court, on prime time news, YouTube, pasted all over the internet or kept secret and used as blackmail.”

He also used many, many quotes throughout the books. Some were from Mobsters, some were from movies and others were from books. I typically enjoy quotes in books like these, but in this case I didn't feel they were used effectively. First of all, they were inserted awkwardly. He'd be in the middle of talking about something and then there'd be a quote and then he'd just go back to talking about whatever he was talking about. Most of the time the quotes either weren't particularly applicable or they were just really, really generic.

That said, I did find some of the content to be interesting and relevant. I think if I'd read these a few tips at a time I would likely have gotten more out of it. As it was, I read it in less than 24 hours and it's just not really a book that's set up to be read in that way.

There were also a few times that Mr. Ferrante's humor showed through. For example:

“As a loan shark, I never increased the interest rate on someone's loan. If anything, I dropped the rate as a reward for timely payments. Credit card companies increase your rate, regardless of your history, and do so without your knowledgeable consent. How about all those hidden fees? “It's in the small print,” one customer service rep told me. “You should have read it.” That's like me increasing someone’s vig on a loan, and saying to him,” When I gave you the money, I whispered that part. You should have heard me.”

This book also made me think about a few things in new ways.

“If you're aware of shady business practices and either look the other way or say to yourself, “I'm just following orders,” tell me, “What the fuck's the difference?” You're as guilty as the people you work for.”

At one point he discusses his experience in prison and learning to read/write with so many interruptions. I've always been someone who gets unnecessarily upset when I'm interrupted and have had trouble re-focusing when I get back to work. Mr. Ferrante pointed out how these interruptions actually gave him a change to clear his head and let in fresh ideas.

“If I was in the middle of writing something when a con poked his head in, I'd put my pen down to talk with him. When he left, I'd return to my paper and find that my mind was filled with fresh ideas. If I was struggling with a problem when interrupted, I found, after speaking to someone, that I'd return to that problem with a solution in mind.”

At the end of the book I was left wishing I'd read a different book by Mr. Ferrante. He obviously has some interesting stories to tell and a unique perspective, but I don't think this book was successful. show less