Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss
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List Price: $25.95 $17.13 $ 8.82 ( 34% ) William Morrow Philip Carlo
Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 364.1092EAN: 9780061429842ISBN: 0061429848Label: William MorrowManufacturer: William MorrowNumber Of Items: 1Number Of Pages: 368Publication Date: 2008-07-01Publisher: William MorrowRelease Date: 2008-07-01Studio: William Morrow
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Editorial Reviews: Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso is currently serving thirteen consecutive life sentences plus 455 years at a federal prison in Colorado. Now, for the first time, the head of a mob family has granted complete and total access to a journalist. Casso has given New York Times bestselling author Philip Carlo the most intimate, personal look into the world of La Cosa Nostra ever seen. This is his shocking story.
From birth, Anthony Casso's mob life was preordained. Michael Casso introduced his young son around South Brooklyn's social clubs, where "men of honor" did business by shaking pinkie-ringed hands—hands equally at home pilfering stolen goods from the Brooklyn docks or gripping the cold steel of a silenced pistol. Young Anthony watched and listened and decided that he would devote his life to crime.
Casso would prove his talent for "earning," concocting ingenious schemes to hijack trucks, rob banks, and bring into New York vast quantities of cocaine, marijuana, and heroin. Casso also had an uncanny ability to work with the other Mafia families, and he forged unusually strong ties with the Russian mob. By the time Casso took the reins of the Lucchese family, he was a seasoned boss, a very dangerous man.
It was a great life—Casso and his beautiful wife, Lillian, had money to burn; Casso and his crew brought in so much cash that he had dozens of large safe-deposit boxes filled with bricks of hundred-dollar bills. But the law finally caught up with him in his New Jersey safe house in 1994. Rather than stoically face the music like the old-time mafiosi he revered, Casso became the thing he most hated—a rat. It broke his family's heart and made the once feared and revered mobster an object of scorn and disgust among his former friends. For it turned out that a lifetime of street smarts completely failed him in dealing with a group even more cunning and ruthless than the Mafia—the U.S. government.
Detailing Casso's feud with John Gotti and their attempts to kill each other, the "Windows Case" that led to the beginning of the end for the mob in New York, and Casso's dealings with decorated NYPD officers Lou Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa—the "Mafia cops"—Gaspipe is the inside story of one man's rise and fall, mirroring the rise and fall of a way of life, a roller-coaster ride into a netherworld few outsiders have ever dared to enter.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Best book about the New York MafiaComment: In my opinion the reader will learn more about the New York mafia from "Gaspipe" than from any other book on the market. Who better to understand how a person is exposed to the mob culture than the author who came from the same tough streets? Philip Carlo even lived next door to "Gaspipe" Anthony Casso for a while. Mr. Carlo's gritty, matter of fact style of writing and excellent organization make "Gaspipe" a delight to read. Unlike a lot of mob books the government does not come out looking so good in "Gaspipe." There are some definite problems with the witness protection program which "Gaspipe" so brilliantly points out. Very highly recommended.Customer Rating: Summary: Too close to GaspipeComment: Philip Carlo's father was a neighbor and friend of Casso's, so Casso chose Philip to ghost Casso's life story. This allows for unique details, but puts Carlo too close to his subject. He mentions, several times, that Casso didn't receive the same deal from federal prosecutors as Sammy the Bull Gravano, even though Casso had more information to deliver. By laying this off to prosecutorial bias, Carlo misses their motivation. Casso wasn't an animal or sociopath, but a bright, normal and moderate guy, like them. This scared them. Ironically, the more they saw of him and the more he told them, the more they were convinced that he was too dangerous to return to society. Carlo misses this point, but otherwise the book is a good read for those interested in True Crime.Customer Rating: Summary: Too many errorsComment: This book has way too many factual errors. It reads more like a blend of fact and fiction. Many of the things Carlo writes contradict with FBI reports, other informants, and wiretap recordings. The top experts on the Mafia, like Jerry Capeci and Selwyn Raab, would laugh at the bologna in Carlo's books.Customer Rating: Summary: Can't-put-it-down New York mob historyComment: Philip Carlo tells a compelling story that is at the heart of twentieth century New York City: the mob-controlled docks and neighborhoods. Having access to some incredible sources, Carlo takes the reader through a behind the scenes journey of mob boss Anthony Casso that culminates with the end of the "handshake, you've-got-my-word," LCN. Carlo, who keeps the reader on edge for the entire read, does a masterful job of explaining why 'hits" and other events occurred and the mindset of the men involved. If you want one volume that seemingly puts a lot of the pieces together, Gaspipe is a must read!!Customer Rating: Summary: gaspipeComment: this is one of the most frightening books i have ever read .to know this mayhem and murder goes on right around us.its inconceivible that such violent killers can be so gentle and devoted to their personal families
