Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia - Softcover

Maas, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060930969 ISBN 13: 9780060930967

Publisher: HarperPerennial, 1999

Synopsis

Sammy the Bull Gravano is the highest-ranking member of the Mafia in America ever to defeat. In telling Gravano's story, Peter Maas brings us as never before into the innermost sanctums of the Cosa Nostra as if we were there ourselves-- a secret underworld of power, lust, greed, betrayal, and deception, with the specter of violent death always waiting in the wings.

About this title

Review:

""Underboss" is fascinating for its anthropologically detailed portrait of a subculture some of us can't get enough of." -- "Time""Brilliantly constructed and grimly fascinating...The result is a terrific and important book...It's important because it is a morality play on the subject of loyalty. To whom are you loyal, and from who should you be able to expect loyalty?" -- "New York Times Book Review""An absorbing, intimate, alluring tale of power, greed, and Mob intrigue." -- "People""A riveting job of detailing real Mafia life...It's quick, exciting reading and Maas deserves full marks for generally keeping the sharks of the mob from looking like dolphins. There's no chrome in the jalopy of Gravano's life." -- "Detroit Press""Breathtaking...Supremely stylish." -- "New York" magazine

From the Back Cover:

In March of 1992, the highest-ranking member of the Mafia in America ever to defect broke his blood oath of silence and testified against his boss, John Gotti. He is Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano, second-in-command of the Gambino organized-crime family, the most powerful in the nation. Today, Gotti is serving life in prison without parole. And as a direct consequence of Gravano's testimony, Cosa Nostra - the Mafia's true name - is in shambles. In Underboss, based on dozens of hours of interviews with Gravano, much of it written in Sammy the Bull's own voice, we are ushered as never before into the uppermost secret inner sanctums of Cosa Nostra - an underworld of power, lust, greed, betrayal, deception, sometimes even honor, with the specter of violent death always poised in the wings. Gravano's is a story about starting out on the street, about killing and being killed, revealing the truth behind a quarter-century of shocking headlines. It is also a tragic story of a wasted life, of unalterable choices and the web of lies, weakness, and treachery that underlie the so-called Honored Society.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperPerennial
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0060930969
• ISBN 13: 9780060930967
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336