Frank Cullotta and Dennis N. Griffin, The Rise and Fall of a 'Casino' Mobster: the Tony Spilotro Story Through a Hitman's Eyes. Denver, CO: Wildblue Press, 2017. ISBN: 9781942266952.
"I know because I was part of it. In this book I'm going set the record straight about Tony, how he gained power in the Outfit, and how his greed and lack of self-control contributed to the Outfit's demise in Sin City and his own death" (14).
In this book we get Tony Spilotro's story through Frank Cullotta's eyes. The two were friends since childhood, but when things got bad in Las Vegas, and Frank finds out that Tony put a hit contract on him, Frank became a U.S. government witness and went into the Witness Protection Program. Now Frank tells their story, mainly Tony's story, as he knew it in this book. On a side note, Cullotta also wrote a book about himself previously with the same co-author: Cullotta: the Life of a Chicago Criminal.
This book is basically arranged in two parts: Part One: Chicago and Part Two: Las Vegas. The first part looks at Tony's rise in the Chicago Mob, known as The Outfit. Early on, Tony had the ability to make the right connections to ensure a good career path in The Outfit. Part Two covers his time in Las Vegas, which at the time was heavily controlled by the Mob. Tony was in Las Vegas mainly to make sure "the skim," the money scam the Mob had going in the casinos, was protected. However, talented as a mobster as Tony was, he had serious flaws. He was arrogant, excessively ambitious and greedy (even for a mobster), and a womanizer, especially with wives of other mobsters, which is a cardinal sin in their world. Though the book we basically see Tony digging his own grave.
The book as a whole is interesting, but it is not a riveting read. The narrative is basically Frank telling the story in a bit of a monotone. If you've ever seen him in a documentary or being interviewed, he is mostly soft spoken, a bit mellow even. The book narrative sounds like that. That is not a bad thing. Note also that the narrative is embellished unlike other books on the topic.
For me, the more interesting part is the first part looking at Tony's early days. That is because much of the Las Vegas story is pretty much well known from the film Casino as well as the book Casino (link to my book review). Tony illustrates the notion that in life it really is who you know given how well he could make connections. Being ruthless and very driven also helped his rise. Yet he also shows how pissing off the people who made you is not a good idea.
Cullotta knew and worked with Tony most of the time. Cullotta clearly notes gaps, times that he was not with Tony, for example being in prison. Cullotta then relies on other sources he knows to fill the gaps. Still he serves as a primary source on Tony and their criminal endeavors. Cullotta also clarifies and corrects misconceptions. For example, contrary to the impression viewers may get from the film, Lefty Rosenthal (De Niro's Ace Rothstein in the film) and Tony were not friends. In fact, Tony loathed him, but due to mob business, Tony had to at least tolerate him. Cullotta gives us a more accurate picture of events, and at times the reality is even more violent or outrageous than Hollywood's portrayal.
Overall, I liked the book. It is a relatively easy read. The text is basic. It feels a bit like listening to an elder reminisce, in this case, a mobster that managed to survive a life that few survive. Fans of the film may be interested in the book. True crime readers interested in the Las Vegas mob and their prime time running the casinos will want to read this. The book is a good complement to Pileggi's book Casino. Libraries that collect true crime, especially if they already have Casino, book and/or film, should add this one. For me, it was a good book but not great. It was nice to learn more about the events it describes.
3 out of 5 stars.
This book qualifies for the following 2024 Reading Challenges:
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