Booknote: Underboss (audiobook edition)

Peter Maas, Underboss. New York: Harper Collins, 1997.

(link to WorldCat print record as I could not find the exact audiobook record for the edition I listened to. I think today you can probably get it in places like Overdrive)

Genre: nonfiction, autobiography
Subgenre: Mafia, mobsters, true crime
Format: audiobook
Source: Online. It was on YouTube of all places, and I just casually decided to listen to it. On a curious note, the recording online was taken from cassettes, so every so often the audio instructed the reader to turn the cassette over. That does bring back memories.

This is a short quick review of the book. I read it as an audiobook while I was doing some work, so I did not take notes on it for possible review. So here are some quick impressions so I can remember that I read it.

This is the story of Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, who was John Gotti's underboss in the Gambino crime family. Gravano pretty much brought down Gotti and the crime family when he turned government witness.

The book is actually pretty interesting, especially the early years when Gravano is rising in the Mafia. We get a look at not only the Mafia's corruption, but the corruption throughout New York City as well. Gravano makes an effort throughout the book to emphasize how he strove to go by the rules of Cosa Nostra, rules that he saw the family under Gotti was not following. According to him, the family under Gotti was not the true Cosa Nostra. However, we do need to recall that Gravano and the rest of the Gambinos were a criminal enterprise engaged in various crimes ranging from racketeering to murder. In fact, Gravano was involved in his own share of murders. Basically, a lot of the effort in the book is to make Gravano come across as somewhat sympathetic. I will leave it to readers to judge.

The narrator of this audiobook overall is pretty good. The narrative goes from Gravano telling his story to the narrator then reading other parts of the text where Gravano is not speaking directly. The voice remains fairly consistent, so there may be a moment or two you may lose track of who is speaking. Still, it is a pretty good listening experience.

Overall, I did like the book. It was not great, but it was pretty good. For fans of books about the Mafia and readers of the true crime genre, this may be a good selection. For folks particularly interested in John Gotti, they may want to read this book as well.

3 out of 5 stars.

Book qualifies for the following 2020 Reading Challenges: