James Hoffa

This is an autobiography of Jimmy Hoffa. As such, it is very hard to piece together what is objectively true and what is Hoffa's opinions on the topics at hand. I'm no stranger to unreliable narrators, but in a fiction story the author will often give tips or nods as to what is the true story. I went into this book without a background in the history of Hoffa, and I have no real idea of what was real and what wasn't. What I do know is that Hoffa is an entertaining story-teller and he really show more hated Bobby Kennedy. show less

During the last several months I have read Vendetta: Bobby Kennedy Versus Jimmy Hoffa and The Hoffa wars: Teamsters, rebels, politicians, and the mob, so it feels good and right to complete this trifecta with Hoffa's own words. Also, one could say, final words as this book was complete just before his disappearance and released after that by his family with an afterword by transcriber Oscar Fraley and an affidavit from the family attesting to the veracity of this opus as Hoffa's own views. show more Hoffa's bias is not very confessional, but he certainly declaims that Robert F. Kennedy had it out for him and that the real rat in the Teamsters was his replacement Frank Fitzsimmons. During the book he lauds his ersatz foster son Chuck O'Brien was involved in the disappearance. Investigators and Hoffa's relatives have long suspected that Charles "Chuckie" O'Brien was involved in the disappearance. Here the aftermatter takes care to take O'Brien a few notches from Hoffa's esteem. show less