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Wise Guy

by Nicholas Pileggi

A mob life in journalistic detail

Regular price $17.09 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Critical praise

    Cosmopolitan calls it “the best book ever written on organized crime”

    The book is described as “the best book ever written on organized crime.”

AlbakiReads Editorial

A mob life in journalistic detail

Nicholas Pileggi chronicles Henry Hill’s path from a working-class Brooklyn childhood into the criminal world of the Mafia, tracing both its rewards and its costs. The account brings together violence, family life, drugs, payoffs, imprisonment, and federal attention, presenting organized crime through the experiences of someone who lived within it. The book also served as the source for the film GoodFellas, placing Hill’s account at the intersection of true-crime reporting and a widely known screen adaptation.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in true crime and organized crime
  • Those seeking a biographical account of Henry Hill
  • Readers curious about the source behind GoodFellas

Themes

Organized crimeBiographyFamily and criminal lifeViolence and consequence

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Nicholas Pileggi's vivid, unvarnished, journalistic chronicle of the life of Henry Hill--the working-class Brooklyn kid who knew from age twelve that "to be a wiseguy was to own the world," who grew up to live the highs and lows of the mafia gangster's life--has been hailed as "the best book ever written on organized crime" (Cosmopolitan).This is the true-crime bestseller that was the basis for Martin Scorsese's film masterpiece GoodFellas, which brought to life the violence, the excess, the families, the wives and girlfriends, the drugs, the payoffs, the paybacks, the jail time, and the Feds...with Henry Hill's crackling narration drawn straight out of Wiseguy and overseeing all the unforgettable action. "Nonstop...absolutely engrossing" (The New York Times Book Review). Read it and experience the secret life inside the mob--from one who's lived it.
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