Goodfellas (Based on the Book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi) - Softcover

Scorsese, Martin; Pileggi, Nicholas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571162657 ISBN 13: 9780571162659

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 1990

Synopsis

'As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster.'

Henry Hill grows up in the 1950s, in a Brooklyn neighbourhood where Italian-American gangsters walk tall in the streets, commanding the respect of their peers. Young Henry dreams that one day he too might be a professional 'wiseguy' - a 'goodfella'. His wishes come true with remarkable speed once he teams up with renowned hoodlum Jimmy Conway and his alarmingly psychotic pal Tommy DeVito. Henry embarks on an everyday life of crime which takes him from rags to gaudy riches, in and out of the federal penitentiary and under the unwelcome spotlight of the FBI. As the 1970s turn sour Henry finds himself at the sharp end of the cocaine trade, increasingly adrift from his extended mobster 'family' and forced to make a tough decision about his future . . .

The film that re-established Martin Scorsese's eminence among American directors after years of professional difficulties, GoodFellas is a tour de force which lays bare the crude and venal motives which drive a happy band of thieves and murderers.

About this title

Review:

Welcome to the world of New York organised crime; of heists, extortion, family, gambling, molls and casual violence. This is the book that inspired the film, written by Nicholas Pileggi in 1985 and originally entitled Wiseguy. Martin Scorsese read it, contacted Pileggi who apparently "had been waiting for this phone call all my life", and between them they wrote the screenplay for the hugely popular 1990 movie. The resulting blend of snappy dialogue, snappier editing and superb ensemble acting tended to overshadow Scorsese's dubious ambivalence towards violence, but the audience was blown away more spectacularly than one of Tommy De Vito's victims.

Pileggi's book was written with Henry Hill, whose life it describes. The narrative switches between Pileggi, Hill, and Hill's wife Karen, all delivered with the smooth action of a well-polished Magnum. It proves utterly compelling, breathlessly serving up an action-fuelled life of criminal excess with Henry starting as an aspirant 12-year-old errand runner ("To be a wiseguy was better than being president of the United States. To be a wiseguy was to own the world"), and progressing to such a status within the Mob that when he is finally nailed he turns Federal witness to implicate his former cronies, a move that represents his only chance to save his family's necks. The irony for Hill is that his fictionalised life story has been seen by millions, but he cannot tell anyone without jeopardising his new identity, which means he gets "to live the rest of my life as a shnook". As a source the book runs very close to the film, and someone who know the film will find it hard not to picture Scorseses's stylised realisation as they read, while those who don't will discover a grittily related, authentically grim amorality tale of a life shot through with brutality and survivalist scheming that stands on its own without the Big Screen treatment. Surprisingly bleak. --David Vincent

Review:

'Absolutely engrossing' New York Times 'The best book ever written on organised crime' Cosmopolitan 'A riveting account of organised crime as a way of life ... extraordinary' Publishers Weekly 'This book chronicles Hill's criminal successes ... smuggling, hijacking, union racketeering, credit card fraud, robbery, bribery, drug dealing, prison, marriage, and assorted girlfriends ... faithfully portrayed' Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0571162657
• ISBN 13: 9780571162659
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160