Rating: 
Summary: Could Not Put It Down
Review: One of the two times I actually am glad I saw the movie before reading the book (the first time being with Silence of the Lambs). Doing so allowed me to "hear" the real-life characters speak so realistically in relationship to the actors who portrayed them in "Goodfellas."I opened the book on a Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m., and between working and reading, I didn't put it down utnil 5 a.m. Monday, having just read the last line. Nicholas' selective dialogue is superb, and the interaction with Henry, Karen and others involved made this true crime story be one that was just so easy to really believe as truth.
Rating:
Summary: A fast paced, real life thriller.
Review: Astounding! "Wise Guy" is one of the greatest books I have ever read, and certainly is the gratest book on the mafia out there. I am known to be the local mafia expert in my area having not only seen all the movies but read all the books and "Wiseguy" is not only the best book on La Cosa Nostra it is a book that I myself could not put down. After finishing "Wiseguy" for the second time, I think that it should have won a pulitzer prize for non-fiction. The book is that engrossing and acurate (taking into account that Henry Hill, the focus of the book and the movie "Godfellas", has told the truth throughout the interview with Pileggi and has not exagerated). Whether a fan of the mafia or not, "Wiseguy" gives those who read it a view through the eyes of a highly connected man in the mafia and if you were'nt a fan of reading about the mafia before, this book will certainly pull you in as you see not only how the mafia is run, but how it works, the different rackets, murders, and even how they got away with it. This is the question that gets me interested: With all these murders, how do they get away with almost every single one? When you start looking at this, most men in the mafia are put away for burglury, racketeering, hijacking, money laundering, but almost never murder. I know of many high men in the mafia that were put away for life in prison for tax evasion. TAX EVASION! When these men have at least 10 hits under their belt. "Wiseguy" has answered this question for me but it never ceases to amaze me. Well, "Wiseguy" is a highly recommended book. Read it. You'll enjoy every page of it.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, better movie.
Review: This of course is the all time classic that the best movie of the 90's was based on - Yes Im talking about Goodfellas. A lot of the exact quotes and dialogue of this book can be found in the movie. I loved the book and I have read it a few times in the past 10 years or so but I have probably seen Goodfellas no fewer than 50 times. Real life events make better stories than fiction sometimes and this proves it. Check out Henry Hills website. I think its called www.GoodfellaHenry.com or something like that. He has "threat of the week" on there and everyone emails him calling him a rat. Fun stuff.
Rating:
Summary: The Best of its Type
Review: Anyone who may have seen the movie Godfellas, might have thought the movie too fast paced to follow. That is not the case for this book from which the movie was made. This non-fiction tale of Henry Hill, a soldier in one of the smaller New York crime families is very easy to follow as well as extremely difficult to put down once you start. You actually develop a liking for the main character, who is way more passive then his two partners who kill without compunction or remorse. Though none of them ever becomes a 'made' man, they seem to be right on the cusp of a lot of big Mafia related events that happened in the 1970's and 80's. Having read The Valachi Papers and Sammy Gravanno's autobiography, I find this book the best of the bunch.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest non fiction crime book ever written
Review: After watching Goodfellas, my favorite movie of all time, I felt compelled to read the book it was based on. The book did an incredible job of revealing the roller coaster life of a mobster in captivating detail. The strech of the mafia's power was absolutely fascinating. I found myself always cheering for the bad guys and their carefree lifestyles. In the end, however, we find that crime does not pay. It was a shame to watch Henry Hill rat out every friend that he ever had. This is a tremendous book for anyone who enjoys reading about the mob, or crime in general.
Rating: 
Summary: Wiseguy
Review: It was one of the biggest heists in American history. The cash payoff had so many zeros after it; it would have made any regular workingman faint. Everything went according to plan, and the guy who helped make it all happen was Henry Hill. This man practically grew up in the mafia, although he could never be made because he wasn't 100% Italian. But after all the success, everyone involved started turning against each other and turning up dead in their Cadillacs with ice-picks through the back of their heads, or frozen to death in the back of an ice locker. Henry Hill was the only one who made it out of the thing out of jail or alive, and Nicholas Pileggi brings his amazing story to life in "Wiseguy."
The book follows the real-life rise and fall of Henry Hill: from age 11 when he started working at the cabstand across the street from his house running errands for a fat mob boss named Vario; to age 22, when he met and married the love of his life Karen; to when his last resort to escape his coke addiction, jail or death was to rat out his accomplices and go into witness protection. As the jacket of the book says: "This is no guided tour. The reader is taken deep inside the inner workings of organized crime." Luckily this story was put into publication by an author like Nicholas Pileggi who tells it like a grainy, 1930's mobster flick, complete with fiery blasts of James Cagney-style gangster glory.
The book flows and feels like a movie, in fact the great Martin Scorsese adapted the book to film in the Oscar winning, 1990 classic, Goodfellas. The film did a brilliant job illustrating the epic story-Scorsese couldn't have gotten a better cast. Every time Henry Hill spoke in the book, I heard Ray Liotta speaking, and every time the notorious Tommy Vario beat some guy into submission and looked down at the poor sap's bloody face and laughed I saw Joe Pesci. In conclusion, after reading the book, I felt like I knew the characters. I felt like I had just sat down with Henry Hill himself and he told the whole thing to me. The way the book was written (the slang, the foul language, and the action) only reinforced this feeling. The book also gave me a new respect for the film I already loved, Goodfellas. I recommend this book to anyone who likes action or crime movies and books, and I would definitely read some other books by Nicholas Pileggi, or even re-read this one. "Wiseguy" is truly a Mafioso masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, interesting, and a little shocking.
Review: This is an excellent book about the life of Henry Hill, a petty mobster in New York State. This book, of course, is the basis for the superb movie "Goodfellas." While The Godfather is a fictional account of the underworld's upper realm, Henry Hill was a part of the lower echelon of the Mafia. The people that run protection rackets, hold-ups, grand thefts, etc. and then pay tribute to the "made" members of the Mafia, who are mainly pure-blooded Sicilians and who form an elite that people like Henry Hill could do business with, but never quite be part of. The book is extremely interesting because of the picture it shows us of organized crime "where the rubber hits the road." The most astounding thing I took away from the book is that Hill and his confederates didn't really benefit all that much from their ill-gotten gains. Instead, they tended to literally throw their money away on a silly, lavish, extravagant lifestyle, featuring, for example $100 tips to doormen, big bribes to get the best tables at restaurants, etc. Hill explained that he saw no need to save because he could always generate all the earnings he needed. Wrong! Most of us are unaware that organized crime is such a large presence in society, costing all of us immense amounts of money. This book drives that point home and it is a shocking revelation. The other insight of the book, which also comes out brilliantly in the film, is that Hill and his fellow mobsters viewed themselves as far above ordinary schmucks who actually work for a living. After all, why work if you can spend a few hours a day playing the rackets making ten times as much? But after reading the book, the wantoness, pointlessness, and gruesome violence of the underworld is readily apparent, and it is clear that Hill and his associates were ultimately undone by their corrupt lives. The story is one of initial prosperity followed by a descent into corruption, mindless brutality, and ultimately betrayal and prison. I give the book four stars, mainly for its content and insight. I didn't find the writing to be much better than average, but the subject matter is outstanding, so four stars. That ain't bad.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked the film Goodfellas...
Review: If you liked the film Goodfellas,then you will most likely love this great book!!! Awesome!!! A great read!!! A great companion to the classic film!!! Five Stars!!! A+
Rating:
Summary: Amazing book!!!!!!!!!
Review: If you thought the movie Goodfellas was amazing then you must read the book!!!!!
The book and the movie are very similar and blend almost identical.
However, the book gives you alot more depth and more information.
More importantly the book gives you dozens of other great stories that are not mentioned in the movie.
Learn about dozens of other Henry hills scams including the famous boston college basketball scams.
You dont have to a "mob lover" to read this. I dont like the mafia at all but I love the drama in the mob books.
Henry Hill is a scam artist and not your average cold-blooded mob scum-bag killer. People can all relate to henry on some level.
Rating:
Summary: Mafia junkie
Review: Hello my name is Marta and I am a Mafiaholic. This is a great book for those who like the Mob. The book that gave life to one of the best movies the GoodFellas is trully a masterpiece. This gives such a vivid portrayal to the Mafia world. The only thing about the book I didnt like were some of the legal document pieces. But I highly reccomend this book to anyone who likes Mafia books and movies.
| 
