Rating: 
Summary: Not a Bad Read
Review: I read a lot of books, and while I enjoyed the mood and tone of this novel as well as its plot, I found myself frustrated on two counts. First, this true-life drama contains myriad characters all of whom have real names and nicknames or FBI names or undercover names... maybe a little glossary or something would have helped, as the sheer quantity of characters interfered with my ability to understand and therefore enjoy the story. Also, and this is a "personal beef," I wish that Mr. Pistone would have added a little more about the responses and reactions of his family to his career obligations than he did -- although I do understand that he omitted more information about them because of safety issues and because the story really isn't about them. In fact, this guy allows practically NO personal responses whatsoever in his narrative... he hardly ever acknowledges to feeling fear, dispair, or frustration... only... anger. Other than those take-them or leave-them flaws, the story is utterly fascinating. It really is. Not since Wiseguy have I enjoyed a true-life mafia book this much.
Rating:
Summary: "Reading this is better, much better than the Movie by far!"
Review: Donnie Brasco must have ice water in his veins to pull off some- thing like this;he is a step away from becoming a "made-man", but the only thing holding him back is his career, F.B.I. deepcover agent! He actually made certain members in the mob have bowel movements once they announced who he really is. What the movie fails to tell you is that although he and Lefty Two-Guns Ruggiero are friends, but after Carmine"Lilo"Galante gets whacked then they whack out Sonny Red Idelicato which puts the Bonanno crime family under Sonny Black Napalitano as the street boss while the real boss Philip Rastelli is in prison. He actually shares an apartment with this Sonny Black, that is how good this Pistone is I mean, he really started the Mafia decline, and the Bonanno's happened to be the first. Again, you learn more about each of the characters;Pacino's portrayal as Lefty, made me literally sick & I don't know who happened to be the casting director of the film but if you read this book before you happened to see the movie, they should be fired, c'mon Pacino as a chump,washed up father of a junkie son, whose only respect he gets is from "Don the Jewler" . I know some people who rather see the movie first then read the book in order to get a more in depth, better understanding of the film, well in this case, you were probably more confused than at the begining! Again I say reading is much better than seeing a movie, in that order, this is my perfect example of my theory.
Rating:
Summary: Fairly disappointed
Review: Well, I was pretty disappointed with this book. I am an avid reader of mob books and this one let me down a bit. If you have seen the movie, this book helps to clear up a lot of the "hollywood" errors. However, I found myself totally lost in the last few chapters. At some point in the book they regress into talking in the cryptic language of real mobsters. So they attempt to give you the actual feel of the conversation between Donnie and other mobsters by using the cryptic language and fragmented sentences and code words. Ordinarily I would be psyched by this because it is what really goes on but they did a bad job at it. They completely lost me. You lose track of who is speaking and what the hell they are talking about. It was a good book all in all but it was very poorly written.
Rating: 
Summary: Donnie Brasco: Modern Day Hero
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I wanted to read this book because of the series Falcone on TV which was based on this book. It was loosely based upon it and the story of the mafia was quite interesting. The only part that I could have done without is all the obscence words. I think Agent Pistone is a modern day hero. The other part of the book I found interesting is that the area in Florida Pistone speaks of I know them. I am going to read Joe Pistone newest book he has written because of this one.
Rating: 
Summary: The Most In-Depth Look At Mafia Operations Ever!
Review: This book is full of suspense, which is heightened by the fact that it is real. Agent Pistone must have had a photographic memory to recount every word of the conversations that he overheard and took part in. He rarely wore a wire or tape recorder due to the great risk of being caught, so I really wonder how he could remember everything so vividly. It doesn't have much action, but, of course, you must remember that it is real, and in real life gun-battles and explosions aren't taking place every couple of minutes. The movie is pretty good, but it includes many things that did not really happen, and has a bit more action and suspense and such so that it is more interesting to the common viewer. Still, I would recommend that everyone check out both of them.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the movie
Review: "Donnie Brasco" the movie, while compelling, contains numerous glaring inacuracies that will jump out at you while reading the book. Two of the most galling are that Pistone (Donnie) cared what happened to Lefty (Al Pacino's character), when in fact Pistone never lost sight of the fact that Lefty was a bad guy. Also, the movie makes it seem as though Pistone's superiors interfered with his operation and did not appreciate him. The book clearly dispells this distortion. Pistone's account of life in the mafia compares with Nicholas Pillegi's "Wiseguy" as compelling reading. And it will dispell any remaining notions that mob life is glamorous. Lefty's memorable movie scene in which he prepares to meet his death is at least one moment in which the movie keeps to the spirit of this great book.
Rating:
Summary: if you liked the movie you'll like this
Review: Donnie Brasco is my favorite movie.This book, however, is much more in-depth on the story. Pistone went deeper into the mob than any undercover ever has. Only a hit kept him from being a "made" man. Real stuff relating to his family(wife and kids) was good. But the story of Brasco and the mob was well put together and really interesting. Lefty, Sonny Black, and his other new friends had no idea who he was. If you liked the movie you'll love this because it's got more details.
Rating:
Summary: G man infiltrates the NY mob
Review: Excellent book from a real G man that infiltrated the NY mob and showed how the mob works from the ordinary soldier's point of view. I could not put this book down because it was so action packed and it was a real mafia book about real events that took place. Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Donnie Brasco - What a Guy!
Review: Donnie Brasco by Joseph D. Pistone is a much better book then I expected. It's exciting and I liked being able to know what Pistone was thinking as he bobbed and weaved his way through the Mafia (which we all know does not exist!). I enjoyed this book much better then Wiseguy. Pistone was doing his job but Hill was betraying his friends.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best mafia books!
Review: one of the best cosa nostra books
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