Gangster's Paradise

With the somewhat recent arrest of the literal poster boy for America’s Most Wanted, Whitey Bulger, a few weeks ago - I went on a slight gangster bender. (I seem to be going on a lot of benders recently. Hmmmmm) Organized crime has always fascinated me. From the bootleggers during Prohibition, to the Italian Mafioso, and to Boston’s own Irish and Italian mobs; gangsters seem so exciting, so classy, so old world! When it was announced that Whitey had been caught in California after 16 years on the lam, I spent a day perusing all the online articles I could find on the guy. Then I switched over to reading about the Italian mafia and its origin in Sicily. Seriously, Wikipedia is my crack!

I decided my best introduction to everything gangster would have to be a two pronged assault; I would read one book of fiction and one true crime book related to all things gangster. Since I’m partial to anything Italian, I picked The Godfather by Mario Puzo as my fiction choice. As a nod to Whitey Bulger, I picked Brutal by Kevin Weeks for my true crime selection. Kevin Weeks was Whitey’s right hand man, until Whitey split and Kevin was left with a host of criminal charges sitting in his lap. He ended up cooperating with prosecutors and got the sentences to his crimes reduced; he’s now out of prison and wrote a kind of tell-all about his life with Whitey.

The Godfather
By Mario Puzo


Embarrassingly, up until a few weeks ago, I had never seen the movie, The Godfather. While I am not proud of this blatant affront to the American cinema, it did however allow me to read the book without any spoilers. The version that I read from the BPL was a hefty paperback, the kind that always makes me think of old ladies reading bodice rippers at the beach. First off, I’ll say that the dialogue in the book walks the fine line between cheesy and ridiculous. Do people really talk like this? Or more importantly, why did Mario Puzo thing people really talked like this? While the book moved really quickly and was damn exciting, some of the writing seemed really mass market paperback to me. Also, holy bodice ripper! Sometimes I thought I was reading an erotic novel, what with all the throbbing members and big breasts! You’re a dirty old man Mario Puzo!

The Godfather revolves around the Corleone family. Don Vito Corelone and his family, comprised of his wife, three sons (Sonny aka Santino, Fredo, and Michael) and his daughter, Connie, who live in Long Island in post WW2 New York. When people want shit done they go to Don Corleone. Hey, Don Corelone, help me get my daughter’s fiancée some legal immigration papers. Hey, Don Corleone, help me beat up the men who assaulted my daughter. Don Corleone, help me wipe my butt! He’s got the police in his pocket and runs the town. If you screw him over, chances are…..you’re dead. Basically (and to sum up the first section of the book) if you ask a favor of the Don, you owe him one, so prepare to do something immoral to repay your debt.

Well ....something happens to the Don, which sets off a huge war between the competing Italian families within NYC. The youngest son Michael, who was basically the only person not in the family business, has to step up and, let’s say, settle some debts. There’s a lovely portion of the book that takes place in Sicily and also some side stories about Hollywood and Las Vegas.

I liked this book a lot. There were a lot of really random side plots though, like one all about vaginal reconstructive surgery? Apparently, if it gets a little too big down there, doctors can reconstruct it and make sex all hunky dory again. Was it necessary to further this plot line? Did it seem appropriate in regards to the time period and theme of the novel? No. Then why was it in there??? Once again, Puzo, you are a dirty old man!

I followed up my reading of The Godfather with the movie starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, and most of the Italian looking actors you’ve seen in Hollywood. The movie was great, and extremely faithful to the book. The cheesy dialogue was vastly improved, Al Pacino is actually kind of hot, and Marlon Brando rules.

After reading the book, I came away with a love for these Italian mobsters. Even though they are sometimes ruthless killers, they were likeable. It didn’t seem like they were doing anything wrong---just killing people who screwed them over. Vengeance, baby, vengeance!

Brutal
By Kevin Weeks.

I was traveling to Michigan for a wedding when I started this gem. Eating alone at a bar one night, the bartender asked me about my book and I gave him a short run down. He had no idea who Whitey Bulger was! No wonder it took 16 years to find him!

Kevin Weeks does a good job letting readers know what growing up in 1960s and 70s South Boston was like. It was no picnic. Weeks grew up in a large family, and his father was a tough cookie. He would box in his living room with his brothers and basically this is where he learned to kick the shit out of people.

As you can imagine, Weeks’ beating up skills make him a shoe-in to bounce at a rough and tumble Southie bar, and it’s here where he meets Whitey. They bonded right away, and soon after Weeks’ was doing Whitey’s dirty work; beating people up, burying bodies, money laundering; your typical Sunday morning chores. Weeks’ describes all this ad nauseoum. Seriously, his journal, had he kept one, would have read like this: “Today I woke up, and somebody looked at me funny, so I punched them in the head. Yesterday, someone told me F-off, so I hit him with a baseball bat.” Two words for you, Kevin Weeks; anger management.

While I found the fictional Don Corleone to be a likable character, Whitey and Kevin Weeks get no sympathy from me. These guys are rats; terrifying rats. Nothing is their fault and they seem to think that killing people is ok, because they were bad people, who in their world deserved it. They have a fond hatred for the “system” (a mindset which seems common among all gangsters) and basically can rationale their god-like behavior till the end of time.

Weeks it out of prison now. He took the smart road and confessed to his involvement in all of Whitey’s crimes,which put a lot of other guys in jail. I wanted some sort of admittance from Weeks, along the lines of admitting to screwing up and making bad choices; but he’s not apologetic in the least!

So with two gangster books and one gangster movie down, I’m officially putting an end to my fascination with the mob or in other words….”I’m leaving the gun and taking the cannoli”.