Rating: 
Summary: Bound by Honor, A Mafioso's Story
Review: I've read a few "Mafia" books in my time and this one beats them all for best fiction. "Our tradition" and "honor". These words pop in the story about a thousand times. This guy thinks he came out of a fairy tale with the holy grail tucked under his belt. The way Billy Boy describes his traditional father as an angel of peace just doesn't stick. As one of the five Dons leading New York's underworld, Bonanno Senior was not the caretaker of some sacred tradition but a Machiavellan player who could rival with the likes of the Borgias. What? You think La Cosa Nostra was built on some divine attribute. You're wrong - it was built on greed. In French we have an expression, "Jamais deux sans trois", which translates as, "Never two without three". This book is the third attempt by those zany Bonannos to sanitize their traditional family history. See "Honor thy Father" and "A Man of Honor" for the other two miscarried attempts. Oh! I almost forgot. His wife Rosalie wrote "Mafia Marriage", an essay into a not so traditional relationship. Good advice for all those dysfunctional couples out there. In "Bound by Honor", we are once again brought to believe the Joe Bonanno, a man of tradition, was kidnapped in 1964 by his not so honorable cousin, Steve Maggadino. Actually, Joe Bananas faked his own kidnapping to escape the Feds and his mob "friends". Another ludicrous idea is that Joe Senior was never into heroin. It just wasn't part of his tradition. Oh come on Bill. You're telling us your daddy was heartbroken when he learned that Carmine Galante was indicted for dealing in smack in 1959. Read "The Canadian Connection" by Jean-Pierre Charbonneau to get the true story. Bonanno was probably the biggest heroin dealer in the fifties and sixties. That's what the Mafia power struggle in that period was all about - control of New York City's heroin market. (Bill, that honorable kind of guy, simply is trying to whitewash all the white powder resting on his father's conscience and the thousands of lives that were destroyed by his activities.) If you're interested in conspiracy, Bill also solves that great riddle wrapped in an enigma - "The Kennedy Assassination". In the Tale of the Two Joes, Bill compares his father with Joe Kennedy and yes you've guessed it, he compares himself with Jack Kennedy. Somehow we are also led to believe that Joe Bananas was the puppetmaster behind Kennedy's 1960 election. It goes on and on... I also forgot to mention that Bill believes he is the real life model behind the character of Micheal Corleone with the clout to call Commission meetings. Yeah, right. I got to give it to you Bill. You really turned out to be one fine "con artist". Too bad Junior can't come up with the truth his almost century-old father could give that would make Joe Valachi's account sound like a bedtime story. Then we'd really have a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Near rewrite of Man of Honor
Review: If the reader is a "new" devotee of mafia history this would be an excellent book to start your journey into the under world. If the reader is a long time mafiaphile then they have already read Man of Honor written by Bills' dad Joe and Sergio Lalli. There are probably forty pages of additional information in Bound by Honor than in Man of Honor but the new information was surprising and worth the purchase of the book. Well written, hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: it's junk
Review: If you want to read a good gangster story, keep looking because this isn't one. The book Bonanno's wife Rosalie wrote is much better. I'd like my money back, too!
Rating: 
Summary: A First Hand Perspective
Review: In Bound by Honor, Bill Bonanno mostly succeeds in giving an accurate description of his perspective of life as a "mafiosi". Although the book is bogged down early with boring details of his relationship with his wife, it builds over the last third to a satisfying ending. It is a text chock full of historical information that afficiondos of Mafia lore will find engrossing.
Rating:
Summary: interesting but yet lacking in depth
Review: It seems as though alot of people are cashing in on old man Bonnano's name and reputation.This was an interesting read however it is evident that Bill Bonnano is trying to milk his old man's name for whatever it is still worth. True the senior Bonnano's life was interesting, but the son is i doubt a respected or current member of the mafia. He gets several facts completely wrong including the name of John Gotti's club in New York. I wouldn't even pay him protection money if he leaned on me!But then again I do recommend this book if for nothing more than an insight into mafia history.
Rating:
Summary: Bound by Honor, Blind by Nature
Review: It's been awhile since I paid good money to read such nonsense. Bill Bonnano attempts to take his readers down some sort of rose-colored lane in which children play on perfect lawns surrounded by picket fences. And mafioso are nothing but men of honor and duty who are simple business men. What surrealistic hogwash. He claims that it's possible that his father was the basis for Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" and that he himself was the basis for Vito's son, Michael Corleone. While I agree it's possible he was the basis for a movie character, the way he wrote this book, it was more likely that of Michael Keaton's character in the movie "Johnny Dangerously". He goes into great, spiritual depth about the codes he lived by, the honor he was wrapped up in, how it was at the core of his being. Forgot to mention the honor of the people he and his "family" trampled all over while making themselves richer than rich. At times, he spoke of how his family was the only thing that people could turn to because politicians and police and other officials were all corrupt and only wanted to fleece the people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, Bill, Robin Hood you're not. Closer to Jesse James. And that might still be a stretch. (Hope I did not insult Mr. James.) Whew. Something smells in this book, and it's not the ink. Now pardon me, but I need to go wash my hands. A lot.
Rating:
Summary: MAFIA BOOKS
Review: THANKS TO SOPRANOS, I HAVE TAKEN AN INCREDIBLE INTEREST IN THE MAFIA. I HAVE READ 4 BOOKS SO FAR, THIS BEING ONE OF THEM. THIS IS A GOOD BOOK, MORE OF A LIFE STORY,NOT QUITE LIKE UNDERBOSS, WHICH I ALSO READ. THIS BOOK SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT GOVERNING THE FAMILY AND ITS BUSINESS. IT IS REALLY BASED ON BILL AND HIS FATHER JOE BONNANO, NOT REALLY ON THE FAMILY AS A WHOLE. THE BOOK DOES TELL A GOOD DEAL ABOUT JFK AND HIS RELATION WITH THE BONNANO FAMILY, AS WELL AS WHERE JIMMY HOFFA IS (SUPPOSEDLY). Its not really a violent mafioso story, but, a good background on the Bonnano's.
Rating: 
Summary: Legend of his own mind
Review: The book as such is an easy read and has some amusing stories, it is, however, filled with appearent contradictions and self promoting spins on most of the events.
The writer is clearly unable to put is own life into perspective and believes he has done no wrong........but that the government is at fault for hunting down organised crime, mostly himself and his father (who is depicted as the role model mobster).
The book is worth reading if the subject itself is of interest to you. For most readers it will become clear that the writer is a complete and total loser.
Rating:
Summary: Makes You An Offer You Can't Refuse!
Review: This book is by far one of the most interesting non-fiction books ever written. It starts out with the "Tale of Two Joes", Joe Bonnano and Joe Kennedy. One a big time Family leader, the other father to possibly one of the most famous American presidents ever. This shows the reader, right from the start, the relationship between the Sicilian Families in New York and the politicians at that time. As the book progresses, that relationship changes through so many small things that it is almost unimaginable. One very obvious lesson in this book is to be aware of small decisions and how much they affect your life. A word tothe wise, however. Before reading this book, I suggest you get a piece of paper and pencil, and keep a "cast list" to keep from getting confused about who killed whom, who betrayed whom, and who is still alive despite it all. Names mentioned at the start of the book dissapear for the rest, then pop back up as the big villain, leaving the reader scrambling through previously read pages to find the alluded to name before the epiphany finally dawns. But, all in all, this is a wonderful book that tells a wonderful story. And when you do finally figure out who he's talking about, it's all worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Makes You An Offer You Can't Refuse!
Review: This book is by far one of the most interesting non-fiction books ever written. It starts out with the "Tale of Two Joes", Joe Bonnano and Joe Kennedy. One a big time Family leader, the other father to possibly one of the most famous American presidents ever. This shows the reader, right from the start, the relationship between the Sicilian Families in New York and the politicians at that time. As the book progresses, that relationship changes through so many small things that it is almost unimaginable. One very obvious lesson in this book is to be aware of small decisions and how much they affect your life. A word tothe wise, however. Before reading this book, I suggest you get a piece of paper and pencil, and keep a "cast list" to keep from getting confused about who killed whom, who betrayed whom, and who is still alive despite it all. Names mentioned at the start of the book dissapear for the rest, then pop back up as the big villain, leaving the reader scrambling through previously read pages to find the alluded to name before the epiphany finally dawns. But, all in all, this is a wonderful book that tells a wonderful story. And when you do finally figure out who he's talking about, it's all worth it.
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