Boss of Bosses: The FBI and Paul Castellano

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Binding: Mass Market Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1092 EAN: 9780440212294 ISBN: 0440212294 Label: Island Books Manufacturer: Island Books Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 384 Publication Date: 1992-05-01 Publisher: Island Books Release Date: 1992-05-01 Studio: Island Books
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Editorial Reviews: Paul Castellano headed New York's immensely powerful Gambino crime family for more than ten years. On December 16, 1985, he was gunned down in a spectacular shooting on Manhattan's fashionable East Side. At the time of his death, Paul Castellano was under indictment. So were most of the major Mafia figures in New York. Why? Because in 1983 the FBI had hidden a microphone in the kitchen of Castellano's Staten Island mansion. The 600 hours of recorndings led to eight criminal trials. And this book. Agents Joe O'Brien and Andris Kurins planted that mike. They listened to the voices. Now they bring you the most revealing look inside the Mafia ever ... in the Mafia's own words.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: The Sopranos treatment Comment: This was written long before the Sopranos series made its HBO debut, but it could have been a blueprint for their series. The book, like the series, is filled with the appropriate mixture of sex, violence, and the more humdrum aspects of the lives of mafia boss Castellano and his associates. The writing is so-so, filled with opinions and dramatizations that wouldn't feel quite right in a more scholarly work. But the color keeps the book moving at a reasonable pace, and the recorded dialogue of the mob members is, by turns, horrifying and funny. Other reviewers have suggested that a little too much sympathy is extended towards the portrayal of Castellano, who is, after all, a cold-blooded murderer and therefore deserving of our scorn. I disagree, and I really thought that this was the book's greatest strength. The very men who have dedicated their lives to taking murderers like Castellano out of circulation have, through years of familiarity, developed an understanding of Castellano as a human being. This familiarity lends a terrific layer of moral grayness to the book that is missing from more sensationalistic writings, which either harshly condemn the crooks or laud them for their nasty achievements. Agents O'Brien and Kurins see Castellano as he is-- a murderer, someone who deserves to be punished, but also a human being who wraps his wrongdoing in justifications, some of which are actually valid points. We all have the capacity to do wrong, and Castellano is someone who was born into unfortunate circumstances and then proceeded to make a raft of very bad decisions. If he was a truly great man, he would have risen above his roots. If he was weak-willed and incompetent, he would have never gotten to his position of prominence. Instead, he was somewhere in the middle, and this gives him a level of humanity to which we can all relate. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys true crime stories-- this book is at the top of that genre, even as it fails to completely transcend it. Customer Rating: Summary: or the Legend of Meester Paul and his penile implants. Comment: From the start the 2 FBI agents,both of whom authored this book,seem to be apologetic towards Castellano about having to bug this criminal's house.When I read this I knew there was going to be some really gushy stuff and was I right (for once).The book has alot of info on Castellano's personal life.No body's in suitcases,nothing like that but more on the level of Hannah Arendt's "Banality of Evil". His life as the "top dog" of the Mafia pyramid,revolves around confusion over how to properly slice some loins of roast beef.As if this isn't crisis enough,then having to inflate himself while chasing a "golddigging" hispanic maid around his mansion,"Oh No Meester Paul".There is little in this book about Mafia goings on because Meester Paul is a few layers beyond where the bodies (and drug money) are flying.Castellano is enjoying his icing at the top with deep layers of deniability.If you're looking for a "Big Eddie sleeps with the fishes" you're in for a big dissappointment.More like a "Hey this damn#!&$# implant isn't working right".The FBI did a good job of making Castellano seem ridiculous,I can understand why they were so tongue in cheek apologetic. Customer Rating: Summary: GREEDY PAUL Comment: This book covers the story of Paul Castellano, a weak boss of a very strong family. It shows a guy who shouldn't have been a boss, leading a group of killers who wanted to be boss. Also, it is a prime example of the cops abusing their eavesdropping privilages. I know the guy was a mob boss but they got all up in the man's business. I could have done without knowing so much about the live-in mistress. But this guy made a lot of bad moves toward the end of his reign. Customer Rating: Summary: Lying Liars and the Lies they tell Comment: This book purports to be the story behind the FBI's take down of big-time Gambino crime boss Paul Castellano. The authors, two ex-agents set themselves up as the heroes in this cops-and-robbers tale. It's too bad that the story ends up being an almost complete fabrication, because there's some truly entertaining "tales" told in this book. Forced to resign from the FBI, O'Brien and Kurins probably made more money from this sham of a book then they did in their crime fighting careers. Maybe they learned from the criminals they watched for so many years, eh? Customer Rating: Summary: It was ok. Comment: I would've liked more behind the scenes mob information. The book focused too much from an FBI perspective. Also, I got a little tired of the agents giving the mob boss, Paul Castellano, so much respect and sympathy! At times it was like they felt sorry for the guy because they have to do their job and arrest him. Hello! The guy is a leader of the mob! These people lie, cheat, steal and kill for a living!!! More Reviews