True Believer: Inside the Investigation and Capture of Ana Montes, Cuba's Master Spy
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • An eye opener!
  • Good Title Deceptived Book
  • The search for Cuba's master spy.
  • How could a leftist be hired in the first place?
  • Unexpected great book on Cuban affairs
 True Believer: Inside the Investigation and Capture of Ana Montes, Cuba's Master Spy
Scott W. Carmichael
Manufacturer: US Naval Institute Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1591141001
Release Date: 2007-03-03

Product Description

Ana Montes appeared to be a model employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Known to her coworkers as the Queen of Cuba, she was an overachiever who advanced quickly through the ranks of Latin American specialists to become the intelligence community's top analyst on Cuban affairs. But throughout her sixteen-year career at DIA, Montes sent Castro some of America's most closely guarded secrets and at the same time influenced what the United States thought it knew about Cuba. When she was finally arrested in September 2001, she became the most senior American intelligence official ever accused of operating as a Cuban spy from within the federal government. Unrepentant as she serves out her time in a federal prison in Texas, Montes remains the only member of the intelligence community ever convicted of espionage on behalf of the Cuban government.

This inside account of the investigation that led to her arrest was written by Scott W. Carmichael, the DIA's senior counterintelligence investigator who persuaded the FBI to delve deeper into Montes activities. Although Montes did not fit the FBI's profile of a spy and easily managed to defeat the agency's polygraph exam, Carmichael became suspicious of her activities and, with the FBI, over a period of several years developed a solid case against her. Here he tells the story of that long and ultimately successful spy hunt. Carmichael reveals the details of their efforts to bring her to justice, offering readers a front-row seat for the first major U.S. espionage case of the twenty-first century. She was arrested less than twenty-four hours before learning details of the U.S. plan to invade Afghanistan post-September 11. Motivated by ideology and not money, Montes was one of the last "true believers" of the Communist era. Because her arrest came just ten days after 9/11, it went largely unnoticed by the American public. This book calls attention to the grave damage Montes inflicted on U.S. security--Carmichael even implicates her in the death of a Green Beret fighting Cuban-backed insurgent in El Salvador and the damage she would have continued to inflict had she not been caught.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars An eye opener!.......2007-09-26

Before reading True Believer, I never understood the impact of the spy on the country which employs him/her and its sons and daughters fighting on foreign soil to protect their country. It's hard to believe that someone so intelligent and so well educated as Anna Montes could be so loathsome as to pass military secrets to Fidel Castro's followers, not to mention all of the countries with which these followers share their secrets-- Iran, Venezuala, etc. The writer's style is unique, more like a day-to-day diary of how Ms. Montes activities barely scratched Michael Carmichael's comfort zone for years. I want my friends to read it so we can discuss it together. Everyone owes it to their own knowledge base to read this true story.

1 out of 5 stars Good Title Deceptived Book .......2007-09-20

If this is the way US agencies operates no wonder we are in so bad chape to act before things happens... The author only fills out pages without saying anything of value including Ana's investigation, trial or life... It does not offer anything relevant about who or why... The book acomplish a message: creating doubts about how many Ana's might exist in government agencies...

4 out of 5 stars The search for Cuba's master spy........2007-09-14

Ana Montes was Cuba's most highly placed spy inside the American intelligence community. For 16 years she burrowed her way into the DIA rising to become that Agencies leading expert on all matters related to Cuba. This is the story of how she was eventually caught by the author Scott Carmichael and a team of FBI agents. He describes how her treason contributed to the death of at least one American Special Forces advisor, Greg Fronnius, in El Salvador in 1986. Finally, he describes that he wrote this book in part to alert the American public and the rest of the intelligence community to his strongly held suspicion that there are other Cuban moles like Montes who have yet to be discovered.

5 out of 5 stars How could a leftist be hired in the first place?.......2007-09-03

Ana Montes pretended to be the perfect intelligence employee. She eventually became perhaps the number one analyst in our entire country to study and recommend polices dealing with the Cuban Communist government. Scott W. Carmichael was a lead investigator who eventually gathered enough evidence to send her to prison. You will have a hard time putting this book down until it is finished. The author has indeed written an engaging book---and I am highly recommending it. Still, he ignores a crucial question: why was she ever hired in the first place? Montes was known to be someone possessing very left-wing views long before her employment begin. How in heavens name did she ever pass a simple background check? I read the book a few days ago and only now are the questions coming to the surface. I am flabbergasted that Montes was not under suspicion long before her arrest. Didn't it strike anyone odd that she was unmarried and childless? Also, why the reluctance to spend her free time with her working associates? Were there never any give-and-take conversations concerning politics? I am just not getting it. There is a possibility that I'm deluding myself, but it is my guess that I would have sensed something wrong within the first few months working alongside Ana Montes.

You should also read Rowan Scarborough's Sabotage: America's Enemies Within the CIA. Our intelligence agencies are filled with employees who would have been considered traitors in an earlier area. Another book that must be read is Aid And Comfort: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam by Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer. A lot of confusion has resulted because Jane Fonda was never tried for treason. If she is not a traitor---who is? What constitutes legitimate dissent from that of outright treason? Are we no longer able to make a clear distinction in a postmodernist cultural milieu? Scott W. Carmichael may want to tackle this dilemma in his next book.

5 out of 5 stars Unexpected great book on Cuban affairs.......2007-07-17

Amazon recommended this book after looking for Che books. I bought it and I was locked into it even at the Prologue stage. It is a quick read, and very interesting. I highly recommend it.
Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • A Commendable Biography Based on Limited Information
  • A very well researched work
  • The Life as Well as the Legend
  • Fabulous book
  • Tedious and pedantic
 Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride
Michael Wallis
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393060683

Book Description

From the best-selling author of Route 66 comes this long-awaited biography of one of America's most legendary folk heroes.

Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid," who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of twenty-one, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw. He arose amid the mystery and myth of the swiftly vanishing frontier and, sensationalized beyond recognition by the tabloids and dime-store romances of the day, emerged as one of the most enduring icons of the American West—not to mention one of Hollywood's most misrepresented characters. This new biography, filled with dozens of rare images and period photographs, separates myth from reality and presents an unforgettable portrait of this brief and violent life. 60 illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A Commendable Biography Based on Limited Information.......2007-10-01

Several efforts have been made in an attempt to untangle the short and controversial life of Billy the Kid. I would suggest that this book by Michael Wallis is probably the best since he acknowledges when little is known about his subject, and speculates about what may have happened when information is lacking. That may not satisfy some people, but that is the best he can do. Billy the Kid actually did not pick up his charismatic title until the last year of his life. He initially went by the unlikely name of Henry McCarty, then changed it to Henry Antrim when his mother remarried, William H. Bonney, and finally Billy the Kid. Where he pulled out the name of Bonney is unknown. He was a very literate person, enjoyed music, and considered Turkey in the Straw and Silver Threads Among the Gold as his favorite songs. His tuburcular mother moved the family from the eastern part of the country (New York City)? to Indiana, Wichita, Kansas, and then to the southwest into New Mexico territory in hopes of improving her health. Following her death Billy was left to shift for himself. Kid was a common nickname for juveniles at that time, and wirey would probably be the best term to describe his short and slight frame. When the book got around to describing the Lincoln County war between competing factions involving horse thiefs I had difficulty keeping track of all the individuals involved. The Kid sided with an Englishman named John Tunstall who ended up getting murdered. Billy became somewhat of an anti-hero with his dramatic escape from jail in which he killed two guards after being sentenced to death. Kit Carson comes off as a villain with he and his men laying waste to Navajo Indians, their homes, food, horses, and other animals. The remaining Navajos began a 450 mile journey to join the Apaches. This became known as the Long Walk. This brought up reminders of the Cherokee Indians in 1839 under the regime of Andrew Jackson. I believe you will find the book to be enjoyable. The author has done a commendable job based on the information available on his subject.

5 out of 5 stars A very well researched work.......2007-09-01

Michael Wallis has studied his subject well. Unlike many other authors he provides quite an insight not to just Billy the Kid, but many of the other players in his short life. This then gives a complete picture of the corrupt times in which he lived. This book is a must have for Billy the Kid students.

5 out of 5 stars The Life as Well as the Legend.......2007-08-05

"This is the west, sir," the newspaperman tells Jimmy Stewart in _The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And for over a hundred years, that is just what has happened to Billy the Kid, starting in countless dime novels and then historical reviews, a ballet by Aaron Copland, and scores of movies. Obviously the legend has a life of its own. The attraction of _Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride_ (Norton) by Michael Wallis is that the legend is fully appreciated. Wallis mentions but does not detail the many media representations the legend has presented after the Kid's death, but does show much of what the papers had to say about him during his life, and also what people who knew him said years after his death, and how unreliable it all is. There are certainly enough facts within the biography, but it is also a realistic look at the Kid's status as a legend in his own time. There were not only many false reports and representations of the Kid, but there are also voids of his life that no one can do anything but guess at. Wallis presents an enjoyable summary of what we can know as accurate and what is pure myth.

The Kid grew up in a changing masculine culture often known as "The Code of the West", which was a new way of dealing with threats. The tradition from British common law was that a man under threat was obligated to retreat until his back was against the wall and there was no alternative but to use deadly force against his opponent. The Code of the West, often celebrated as part of frontier self-reliance and integrity, merely signified that no such restraint under threat had to be shown; the courts even found that a "true man" did not have to back away from a fight, and it was a given that a man could pursue an adversary even once the threat had been lifted. The Kid was certainly one to stand his ground, and probably was on the offensive more than most, but his homicidal actions have been exaggerated. He has four confirmed killings to his name, some completely in self defense, but even before the end of his short life, the tally was being exaggerated. His enemies had good reason to do so. The Kid was caught up in what is called the Lincoln County War, a complex conflict that Wallis says "had been spawned long before in Ireland and England, in boardrooms and court chambers, in saloons and places of worship." It featured private armies of hired killers attempting to settle the conflict of two competing commercial property interests, with governmental corruption and ethnic clashes thrown in. Neither side represented "The Good Guys", and the Kid as a hired shootist was as culpable as any of the other members of the "banditti", but his opposition used him as a targeted bad boy. His own side didn't lack for corruption or malevolence, but the other side could mask its own corruption and malevolence by deliberately playing up the Kid's outlaw role and making him (despite a limited number of crimes) the most wanted man in the Southwest.

So it was that after an astonishing escape from the jail in Lincoln, the Kid was pursued by a posse including Pat Garrett. None of the legends about the Kid and Garrett being companions, pals, or fellow-outlaws are true. Garrett gunned him down in 1881, and his death was world news. A New York paper didn't start the exaggerations, but merely continued them, when it wrote that the Kid "had built up a criminal organization worthy of the underworld in any of the European capitals." The distortions were present during the Kid's lifetime, and have continued; he is a psychopathic serial killer, or a loner out for justice against the system, or a benefactor of the downtrodden, depending on which version of the legend is favored by times or tellers. Wallis's is a winning account of a small life which popular fascination has insisted on writing large.

5 out of 5 stars Fabulous book.......2007-07-23

I travel extensively throughout New Mexico for my job and therefore bought the book-on-CD version of this text. It was fascinating, particularly as I drove through areas discussed in the book; Silver City, Santa Fe, Las Cruces. In terms of a book on Billy the Kid, this work is interesting and helps bring perspective to the story surrounding this folk hero. More important, however, is that the author did a beautiful job of conveying the realities of the times--for cowboys, Native Americans, Hispanics, African Americans, and the others who found their way to New Mexico. Living in New Mexico, it is fascinating to see how our peculiar ways of doing things in this state dates way back; some changes, much stays the same. I recommend this book for anyone interested in Billy the Kid, 'Old West' history, and New Mexico politics. Great job! Thanks for making my driving more tolerable.

2 out of 5 stars Tedious and pedantic.......2007-07-20

Despite several attempts, in terms of a detailed reading, I didn't make it very far into this book: page 64 to be precise. After that I skimed it and, quite frankly, found nothing worthwhile here.

The author's style is, putting it mildly, bizarre. This is 1871, mind you. No electricity. Few labor saving devices. This is Wichita, Kansas, a place not particularly noted for balmy summer weather. Yet author Wallis has the temerity to write "Life in Wichita may have seemed sweet as huckleberry pie for Catherine McCarty. Her steamy City Laundry did a brisk trade thanks to the bundles of soiled hotel and whorehouse linen . . ." Wallis is describing a tubercular woman performing hard physical labor for long hours in less than a hospitable setting. Sure enough, two pages later Wallis writes "[a] stifling hot laundry was far from the ideal place for someone battling a chronic respiratory illness.
"

Wallis' use - or rather misuse - of language is jarring. In another instance, he has the family of the still young boy who would become the notorious Billy The Kid of "slipping" into a state, as if there was something furtive in their movement. There wasn't and the language is a poor attempt to add drama to an ordinary incident. The device doesn't work no matter how many times it is employed - and it is employed all too often.

Wallis takes off on a rant about and against handguns. There's little sense here. Elizabethans were complaining of violence in the streets just as modern day Houstonians do. The availability of early Colt revolvers had little to do with the sometimes lawless character of Western towns.

Not long after, Wallis complains of vigilante justice which was, in fact, an expression of the civilizing impulse. It may have been rough and ready, but it showed the desire of ordinary people for the protection of law.

Wallis makes many gratuitous comments of this kind. He takes the 19th Century folks to task for their lack of environmental sensitivity, ethnic tolerance and so on.

By page 64, I'd had it.

There are many other books available on Billy The Kid, which stick to their subject, avoid language eccentricity and don't try to apply 21st Century political correctness to the 19th Century.

Jerry
The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Awesome!
  • Very little Credibility
  • The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer
  • Chilling and compelling
  • excellent true crime read
 The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer
Philip Carlo
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312349289
Release Date: 2006-07-01

Book Description

Richard "The Iceman Kuklinski" led a double life beyond anything ever seen on The Sopranos, becoming one of the most notorious professional assassins in American history while hosting neighborhood barbecues in suburban New Jersey. Now, after 240 hours of face-to-face interviews with Kuklinski and his wife and daughters, author Philip Carlo tells his extraordianry story. Kuklinski was Sammy "The Bull" Gravano's partner in the killing of Paul Castellano at Spark's Steakhouse. John Gotti hired him to kill the neighbor who accidentally ran over his child. For an additional price, he would make victims suffer; he conducted this sadistic business with cold-hearted intensity, never disappointing his customers. By his own estimate, he killed over two hundred men, taking enormous pride in his variety and ferocity of technique. Kuklinski's story, once known, captivated the public and became the subject of three HBO documentaries about which the New York Times raved "Few viewers are ever likely to forget this thoroughly chilling portrait. As for possible movie competition, it would work on the level of The Silence of the Lambs." The Ice Man is the most complete portrait of a killer since Peter Maas' New York Times bestselling biography of Sammy the Bull, Underboss, or Gay Talese's Honor Thy Father.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Awesome!.......2007-10-01

I recently finished this book and found it to be incredibly insightful, thought provoking and extremely gruesome - but I loved it!!
I think Mr. Carlo touched every aspect of Richard Kuklinski's life that you may have been wondering about - from his childhood, parents, wife, kids, etc. It's so unfortunate that all those people had to die, the families lives that were ruined (not to mention his own family), and the horrible beatings Richard had to endure - but this book did an excellent job portraying it all.
I couldn't put this book down. I have since lent it to a friend who can't put it down either.
Mr. Carlo deserves every 5 star review that's given!

2 out of 5 stars Very little Credibility.......2007-09-30

I bought "The Ice Man" because I had viewed the HBO documentary, which was terrifying. I read this book once and gave it away. According to Richard Kuklinski, hardly a major killing took place in the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s without his involvement. Among his incredible assertions are that he participated in the murders of Carmine Galante, Paul Castellano, and even Jimmy Hoffa. Had he been somewhat older, it wouldn't have surprised me had he stated that it was he, and not John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Lincoln. Since it's been some time since I've read this tome, my recollection of many of his allegations are somewhat hazy, but I do remember questioning many of them. Philip Carlo's writing is flawless and gripping, but Kuklinski's credibility, in my opinion, is somewhat debatable.

5 out of 5 stars The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer .......2007-09-22

I saw a documentary on televison about this man so I was intrigued and bought the book. The book is excellent, but sad. It is a riveting story of so many lives lost. Excellent reading.

5 out of 5 stars Chilling and compelling .......2007-08-31

"The Ice Man" is, by far, one of the most compelling, perfectly-written, biographical accounts I've ever read. Philip Carlo masterfully conveyed the most graphic details of Richard Kuklinski's criminal activities without repelling his audience -- an incredible feat given the unnerving subject matter.



5 out of 5 stars excellent true crime read.......2007-08-30

This is a book that once you pick it up you can't put it down and you definitely do feel a pressure to talk to someone about it. It is so gruesome you have to have to be careful who you choose to talk to about it. I am a psychotherapist and from a psychological point of view it was facinating. Carlo was able to show the different facets of the man, a true sadistic psychopath. On the other hand he had some kind of "code" or sense of empathy with the children he rescued from sexual abuse. It is as if he could identify with them, something that psychopaths are believed to be unable to do not having a conscience. It seems that there was a small part of him somewhere that cared about those children. And he cared about his family, even though he also terrified and abused them. He said he would not kill a woman unless she was also a hit "person". But his cruelty to men had no bounds. He was not into sexual assaults which maybe is the reason he is not as well known as Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahmer. He should be the most notorious of all serial killers. I agree he was the worst of the serial killers and it surprised me he is not the most well known. Carlo did a great job.
American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • I recommend this book
  • Well-written Thriller!!!!
  • junk
  • a disappointing effort
  • Important And candid book.
 American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond
E. Howard Hunt , and Greg Aunapu
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471789828

Book Description

Startling revelations from the OSS, the CIA, and the Nixon White house

Think you know everything there is to know about the OSS, the Cold War, the CIA, and Watergate? Think again. In American Spy, one of the key figures in postwar international and political espionage tells all. Former OSS and CIA operative and White House staffer E. Howard Hunt takes you into the covert designs of Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon:

Complete with documentation from audiotape transcripts, handwritten notes, and official documents, American Spy is must reading for anyone who is fascinated by real-life spy tales, high-stakes politics, and, of course, Watergate.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars I recommend this book.......2007-08-21

E. Howard Hunt was a patriot. The stories of his spy training, service in WWII in a unit that was a forerunner of today's Green Berets, subsequent career in the CIA which included playing a pivital role in overthrowing a burganing communist tyrant alone makes him the stuff of legend and this boook worth buying. He admits to having made a terrible mistake by becoming involved in the Watergate affair. But in his defence he did so partly because financial burdens brought on by his daughters long illness drove him into becoming one of the 'plumbers.' Along with the fact that Presidential elections up until that piont had long been influenced by, intelligence operatives, and even the likes of J. Edgar Hoover. As for the unfounded ,and slanderous allegation that he managed the JFK assassination, doesn't one think that if it were true, would'nt he have used that information to barter a lessor sentence for himself than the 35 years Sirica subsequently gave him?

5 out of 5 stars Well-written Thriller!!!!.......2007-07-09

This book reads just like a mystery novel. It's easy to read and full of suspense, so I couldn't wait to turn the page to find out what happens. The pages on Watergate were especially suspenseful. This book was good from beginning to end. It's interesting to get the inside information on CIA training and activities from someone who was really there. Also, it was good to read about Watergate from someone who was really there and knows what happened. He also fills this book with stories about his personal life, his parents, wife and children. At the end, he offers his views on how to fix the agency today. This is a very good and easy to read book! I enjoyed every page of it.

1 out of 5 stars junk.......2007-06-14

This man, even as he looked at death, could not even come close to the truth. If you buy this book call me i got a bridge for you...

mmmm just to be straight i bought this book...so don't be a sucker like.....me

2 out of 5 stars a disappointing effort.......2007-05-28

I really looked forward to reading this book having been in college when Watergate grasped the nation I wanted to see how well I remembered some events. But after reading half the book I knew that much of what I was absorbing was the result of a memory even more flawed than my own. The topper came when he has President Eisenhower in office in 1950 when even a junior high schooler could tell you Eisenhower was elected in 1952 - after the Korean War. After that how reliable could the rest of the book be. Was it just a case of poor editing, or did Hunt really believe what was written? It left me questioning how much of the book was meant as an attempt to absolve himself of his crimes or justify the mistakes he made of his own free will. Is he trying to rewrite history? I just don't know, and after finishing the entire book I still am not sure if this is non-fiction or fiction.

4 out of 5 stars Important And candid book........2007-05-15

There was a real snotty review of this book by the NY Times( the bastion of limosine liberalism and Oswald did it alone BS) But, anyone interested in Watergate or the JFK Assassination should read it- the reviewer doesn't have a clue more than the man in the street what Howard hunt, knew and he had a long association with the Assassination losing a lawsuit where he was 11-22-63 as shown in Mark Lane's Plausible denial. I'm not saying Hunt didn't embellish, or possibly deflate his own role,maybe threw in a couple bogus names, but the names he picks-the key ones: William Harvey, David Morales, and David Phillps all have several suspicious things about them in this regard, were all heavy drinkers and hated The Kennedys with a purple passion. There is nothing far fetched about their alleged involvement.one of the big reasons the conspiracy worked is no one in the Wash press corps could fathom it...& whatever Hoover said, or spokesman for Govt. Agencies was accepted without question in that day, thus denying a mountain of germane contrary evidence. As far as watergate- very interesting and it was horrible his wife died in the plane crash, and Hunt got 35 years from Judge Sirica!What they did was illegal, but nothing compared to what the current Administration is doing and though Hunt is hardly a shining knight, you can really see things through his eyes and his observations on notable people are just priceless and often I believe highly accurate ..In a sea of evil pathological liars that were much higher up the food chain-Hoover,Nixon, Helms, Angeton,& LBJ Hunt wasn't the epitome of malevolance as he was portrayed in the Establishment..there were people far worse...
Mr. Untouchable: My Crimes and Punishments
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • You Had Me at the Book's Dedication!
  • Mr. Untouchable
  • A Great Read!
  • Cracking book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
  • Mr. Untouchable: THE BIGGEST SNITCH IN AMERICA!!
 Mr. Untouchable: My Crimes and Punishments
Leroy "Nicky" Barnes , and Tom Folsom
Manufacturer: Rugged Land
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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  1. Gangsters of Harlem Gangsters of Harlem
  2. Black Brothers, Inc. : The Violent Rise and Fall of the Philadelphia Black Mafia Black Brothers, Inc. : The Violent Rise and Fall of the Philadelphia Black Mafia
  3. Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler
  4. The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia
  5. Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business

ASIN: 159071041X
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

From inside the Federal Witness Protection Program, the "Black Godfather" chronicles the 1970s New York City underworld and the most devastating urban crime wave in history.

1962 LEROY "NICKY" BARNES walks out of Green Haven State Prison. There are an estimated 153,000 heroin abusers in the United States.

1977 Two million junkies score $100 million worth of Barnes's smack a year. Sporting flashy suits, riding in a Citroën with a Maserati engine and satisfying a wife while pleasuring a harem of mistresses, Barnes presides over a staggering multinational dealership that pushes dope and launders money with the efficiency of a Fortune 500 company. Despite President Nixon's creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration and New York State's adoption of the no tolerance Rockefeller drug laws, Barnes's operation seems impregnable.

How does a small-time hustler and heroin addict end up on the cover of the New York Times Magazine as MR. UNTOUCHABLE, the one gangster the Feds can't touch? And how is the future Mayor of New York City Rudolf Giuliani involved? With Machiavellian pragmatism matched with biblical fury, Barnes lays bare his life's remarkable trajectory--a rise, fall and resurrection defined by brutality, brotherhood and betrayal.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars You Had Me at the Book's Dedication!.......2007-10-04

Mr. Untouchable finally got touched...hard! The book offers a great retelling and details of the life of a druglord and CEO of one of New York's most infamous criminal enterprises. My greatest concern after reading the book and the passing of so many years since Mr. Barnes drug activities is his level of bitterness at others. The only true person to blame is the one who made the decision to enter such a lifestyle. That would be you Mr. Barnes...not Guy Fisher or the other council members, not the government, or even your ex-wife or society. You authored your life's path just like you did this great book.

5 out of 5 stars Mr. Untouchable.......2007-09-17

I enjoyed the book. It was intersting to see how one man was able to organize a huge drug operation but to see it all fall in the end. A good book and a lesson to learn about the drug buisness. Its not all about the glitz and glamour but also the lies and betrayal.

4 out of 5 stars A Great Read!.......2007-08-10

I actually grew up in NYC during the time of the events in this book. I also come from people who ran in the same circles as Barnes. I remember him as a Harlem legend, so it's interesting to read this book and get from the horse's mouth, as it were, the behind the scenes story of his rise and ignomious fall.

This book has a raw style, and apparently very little editing. This is evident in the fact that nobody seemed to tell Barnes that some of the things he admits paint him in EXTREMELY unflattering lights. This is, for me, a large part of the appeal. Much like the African American Experience in the latter decades, it is what it is...and very little is done to hide the facts. Things are kept real.

A VERY interesting read indeed.

4 out of 5 stars Cracking book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!........2007-07-22

I really enjoyed this book, it takes you right in to 'Their world', anyone who is thinking of getting involved in that business should read it, it doesn't matter what level you get to the people around will turn and send you to jail just to save their own life.
Greed takes over and ruin's everything.
A very good book, highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars Mr. Untouchable: THE BIGGEST SNITCH IN AMERICA!!.......2007-07-11

I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK AT FIRST HANDS DOWN!! TILL I READ GANSTERS OF HARLEM. I REALLY THOUGHT HE WAS A STAND UP MAN WHO HAD TO JUSTIFY HIS MEANS OF LIVING, BUT I KNEW SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT WHEN HE GOT FREE AFTER HE CHOSE NOT TO CUT A DEAL WITH THE GOVERMENT!!!
WTF!! WOW!!
THIS DUDE DID NOT TELL THE REAL STORY...HE HONESTLY TRY TO GLORIFY HIMSELF AS BEING A STAND UP GUY AND SNITCHED ON HIS WHOLE CREW BECAUSE OF GUY FISHER!! COME ON THAT IS BS....THIS DUDE SNITCHED ON EVERYBODY HE CAME IN TO SITE WITH PEOPLE IN HIS CELL TO BE FREED UP...I'm NOT MAD ABOUT THAT ....BUT PLEASE IF U TELL A STORY TELL THE WHOLE STORY YOU ABOUT 10 CHAPTERS SHORT!!! TELL HOW U BROUGHT THE WHOLE MOB DOWN IN THE FACE OF AMERICA!!!! **PLEASE READ GANGTERS OF HARLEM** VERY GOOD BOOK WITH SEARCHABLE FACTS!! LEROY STAY IN YA HOLE!!!RAT


Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Too long
  • A decent true-life thriller, but that's all.
  • Runs Too Long
  • A gripping account of one of the greatest out-laws and the country he lived in
  • finding Pablo
 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw
Mark Bowden
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142000957
Release Date: 2002-04-02

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Readers of Black Hawk Down know Mark Bowden can tell an exciting story about as well as any writer at work today. Killing Pablo is further proof. It describes the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, a notorious Colombian drug lord who became one of the narcotic trade's first billionaires. Pablo--Bowden refers to him by his first name throughout the book--started out as a petty thief and wound up running a massive smuggling empire. At his height in the 1980s, he owned fleets of boats and planes, plus 19 separate residences in Medellin, each with its own helipad. Violence marked everything he did: "He wasn't an entrepreneur, and he wasn't even an especially talented businessman. He was just ruthless." He bought off police, politicians, and judges throughout his country, and killed many others who wouldn't cooperate. The Colombian government tried to capture him, but without much luck; he evaded them time after time. "Now and then the police achieved enough surprise to catch him, literally, with his pants down. In [1988], about one thousand national police raided one of his mansions," writes Bowden. "Pablo fled in his underwear, avoiding the police cordon on foot." He got away, again, but his days were numbered. He was making powerful enemies in both Colombia and the United States. The final straw probably came when Pablo's men murdered a popular politician and, three months later, planted a bomb on a plane, killing 110 people, including two Americans.

The bulk of Killing Pablo describes what happened when the U.S. government put its resources behind the hunt for Pablo. Bowden describes the search in gripping detail, from the massive electronic-surveillance effort to bureaucratic infighting between rival U.S. agencies. This is an outstanding work of reportorial journalism, too: in the epilogue, Bowden drops tantalizing hints that it was an American--not a Colombian--who delivered the killing shot to Pablo in 1993. Readers looking for a real-life thriller--or any kind of thriller, for that matter--won't do much better than Killing Pablo.

Book Description

A tour de force of investigative journalism-this is the story of the violent rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel. Escobar's criminal empire held a nation of thirty million hostage in a reign of terror that would only end with his death. In an intense, up-close account, award-winning journalist Mark Bowden exposes details never before revealed about the U.S.-led covert sixteen-month manhunt. With unprecedented access to important players-including Colombian president C&eacutesar Gaviria and the incorruptible head of the special police unit that pursued Escobar, Colonel Hugo Martinez-as well as top-secret documents and transcripts of Escobar's intercepted phone conversations, Bowden has produced a gripping narrative that is a stark portrayal of rough justice in the real world.

"The story of how the U.S. Army Intelligence and Delta Force commandos helped Colombian police track down and kill Pablo Escobar is a compelling, almost Shakespearean tale." (Los Angeles Times)

"Absolutely riveting. . . . Mark Bowden has a way of making modern nonfiction read like the best of novels." (The Denver Post)

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Too long.......2007-08-25

Mark Bowden wrote Black Hawk Down, as everybody knows. I was looking forward to any book by Mr. Bowden, but this one is too much. If there was ever a guy who needed to be killed it was Pablo Escobar. However, reading the endless corruption and stupidity of Columbians was depressing, and furthered my low opinions of them. There is hardly a living soul in this sorry country who is not vile or evil. Anyway, the book runs on too long and I finally just turned to the page where he was finally shot, almost by accident.

3 out of 5 stars A decent true-life thriller, but that's all........2007-08-21

If you want a vivid portrait of Pablo Escobar, his personality, and his methods, this book does the job. Halfway through the volume, though, it just becomes another thriller, the story of a chase that could have taken place anywhere on earth (with of course lots of detail on surveillance gizmos, military hardware, and the colorful individuals involved--a bit like Tom Clancy). But there is virtually no backbround, nothing that helps explain why Colombia became such a huge supplier of drugs. (If it hadn't been Pablo, it would've been some other guy.) Moreover, Bowden takes for granted the notion that the cause of the drug problems is the evil men in Colombia, while never considering the fact of enormous drug demand in the U.S. Without the vast gringo appetite for drugs, there would have been no Pablo. Supply and demand is a two-way street!

On another note, Bowden's referring to the Contras in Nicaragua as "pro-democracy" forces is questionable. Those people were terrorists who killed some 50,000 people.

3 out of 5 stars Runs Too Long.......2007-07-16

Black Hawk Down is one of my favorite books. From page 2 onward, there's not one dull moment. I wish the same could be said for Killing Pablo. This book really drags and at about the halfway point you're wishing that they'd cut to the chase already and kill the SOB.

5 out of 5 stars A gripping account of one of the greatest out-laws and the country he lived in .......2007-04-28

Despite the apparent flaws the previous reader and reviewer points out, this is still a well researched book and these flaws do not take away from this thrilling and appalling story of Pablo Escobar. What I really liked was the description not only of Escobar but also of the country he grew up in and that let him live such a violent life and have such a horrific career. A very good read!

5 out of 5 stars finding Pablo.......2007-02-22

Killing Pablo was alot easier then finding Pablo...go behind the scenes of the drug war as Pablo is hunted down with all the latest eletronic gadgetry and eventually located..Mark Bowden writes a compelling, page turner...Pablo Escobar rises to the top of the drug cartel much like Scarface only this is a true story just as compelling..
Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • GREAT BOOK
  • Honest & Touching
  • You will be touched
  • The story of a boy in a man's prison
  • One fast read is plenty!
 Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison
T. J. Parsell
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0786717939

Book Description

When seventeen-year-old T.J. Parsell held up the local Photo Mat with a toy gun, he was sentenced to four and a half to fifteen years in prison. The first night of his term, four older inmates drugged Parsell and took turns raping him. When they were through, they flipped a coin to decide who would “own” him. Forced to remain silent about his rape by a convict code among inmates (one in which informers are murdered), Parsell’s experience that first night haunted him throughout the rest of his sentence.

In an effort to silence the guilt and pain of its victims, the issue of prisoner rape is a story that has not been told. For the first time Parsell, one of America’s leading spokespeople for prison reform, shares the story of his coming of age behind bars. He gives voice to countless others who have been exposed to an incarceration system that turns a blind eye to the abuse of the prisoners in its charge. Since life behind bars is so often exploited by television and movie re-enactments, the real story has yet to be told. Fish is the first breakout story to do that.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK.......2007-10-04

This book was one of my Favorite's for this year. I read about 4 books a month and this one is right at the top. I even brought this one to my book club to have all the other mothers read it and they all loved it!

5 out of 5 stars Honest & Touching.......2007-09-28

Fish is an honest and touching account of a teenager coming to terms with his sexuality while dealing with the horrors of prison. The story is told without pity or blame and the reader is immersed in the horrifying brutality of prison, yet the story is told with compassion and tempered with humor and glimmers of kindness. You will pick this book up and won't put it down until you've turned the final page and then you'll want to know more about the author, his life, and the cause he champions.

5 out of 5 stars You will be touched.......2007-09-27

Fish is an incredibly intimate portrayal of a boy's journey into the penal system. His vivid description of the daily realities 'inside' gives the reader a personal introduction into a world many of us have no prior contact with.

TJ Parsell lets you feel for the people in this story both inside and out of prison -- there are no open and closed cases. Every person makes choices, good and bad. Beyond the daily goings on, he shows us accounts of his own upbringing, glimpses into the history of his fellow inmates, the reactions of his friends and family, and the sympathy - and most often the lack there of - which he received from the prison officials: clearly no one is purely innocent. Yet the sheer immensity of the horrors that are allowed to take place is astonishing. It is this complete-story telling which I find so gripping about this book. I was left consumed with curiosity about what happens next... these are real people after all! And after reading the book I felt as if I'd known them personally.

TJ is to be applauded for opening his life so honestly, so completely, in order to try and effect change in the way prisons are run. And effect change he undeniably will - for he provides us a view that is convincing far beyond the statistics and headlines one more frequently comes across.

Read it. You will come away touched as probably never before. I did.

5 out of 5 stars The story of a boy in a man's prison.......2007-09-27

TJ Parsell was 17 when he was raped in prison. He is currently a leading activist against prison rape, and is president of Stop Prisoner Rape. He has lectured to prison officials, law schools, law enforcement groups, and "anyone who will listen."

This memoir should be high on the lists of senior high school classes. It's timely, important, and relevant. It's a punch to the gut; any kid who thinks it's cool to go to prison should be forced to read this account of a teen ager who was raped and brutalized often with prison guards in shouting distance.

Adults will be shocked at the reality of prison life as told by the man who was the 17 year old, and who experienced what most kids that age can only imagine.

Parsell writes from the depths of a nightmare which will shock the reader. At the same time he allows for a bizarre humor that crops up within prison walls. You'll cry, you'll laugh, but mostly you'll be enraged at the hell that young inmates endure in prisons.

This is an important book; read it and prepare to be stunned.

2 out of 5 stars One fast read is plenty!.......2007-09-26

One fast read is plenty for this book.

I completed it in one weekend easily, and wondered if I could have used my time better raking leaves or cleaning gutters.

The story, apparently true, is not that compelling and if I hadn't purchased the book already and had begun it at Borders or another book store; I'd most likely not bought it.

We all have our opinions of everything-I wanted more graphic sex. That's why I buy those types of books.

RC
HOAX, THE
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A ripping good yarn
  • The Riveting Tale of a Selfish Man
  • Riveting, hilarious, and enlightening
  • Very, Very Entertaining!!
  • The (probably) true story of the Hughes autobiography scam
 HOAX, THE
Clifford Irving
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1401308546

Book Description

Soon to be a major motion picture -- a no-holds-barred account of the most notorious literary hoax of the twentieth century, written by the perpetrator himselfBefore Oprah and TheSmokingGun.com had ever heard of James Frey, there was Clifford Irving. In 1971, he burst onto the literary scene, claiming to have been granted the right to pen the authorized biography of the famously reclusive icon Howard Hughes. Forged documents seemed to bear out his claims, and McGraw-Hill awarded him a contract for the then-enormous sum of $750,000. When Hughes himself emerged from seclusion to denounce Irving as a charlatan, McGraw-Hill stood by their author. It wasn't until Hughes filed suit, and Swiss bank officials got involved, that Irving finally confessed. The Hoax, first published in 1981, is Irving's explosive account of his own misdeeds -- and the inspiration for a soon-to-be released movie starring Richard Gere.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A ripping good yarn.......2007-10-09

Love him or hate him, Clifford Irving sure can write. The Hoax is an absolute page turner from start to finish; I am about three quarters of of the way through the book and counting the minutes until I can return home and dive into it again. Clifford Irving lived an incredible life even before turning to forgery: living on a houseboat in Kashmir, living in Mexico, a couple of European wives, an internationally famous mistress, and then fleecing a major US corporation. It is just a great read!

3 out of 5 stars The Riveting Tale of a Selfish Man.......2007-09-23

The drama of this tale makes it a page turner (or in the case of an audiobook a long-listener). Yet it is, at its center, somewhat unsatisfying because the author and main character seems blissfully unaware of how his behavior might affect others. As he flies around the world on his mad adventure, enjoying his extramarital affairs with seemingly little reflection as his wife is committing bank fraud for him at home, he lies to friends and business partners as if the whole matter were out of his control.

The amazing coincidences, strokes of luck and close calls are the stuff of great fiction. As the author writes himself into his own movie, his fictional autobiography and the fiction he must create for the people at McGraw Hill become simply two parts of one elaborate writing project. As you see him encounter one close call after another, you want him to get away with it, yet you know that there is only one possible outcome. He's going to be caught.

The book becomes much less satisfying as it moves into Irving's downward trajectory as his hoax is unraveled and the consequences loom, as it certainly was for the author. The pain inflicted on his wife through both the legal ramifications of the hoax and the revelation of Irving's affairs are difficult to read. Irving does express remorse for that and for lying to one or two friends, but in general he seems to view his hoax as a victimless joke.

McGraw Hill is a corporation done in by greed in his tale, and the people who were duped and whose reputations surely took a beating, most likely would find that compounded by this book. Their crime was believing Irving and standing behind him, and for that the author says at one point that he sometimes thought he should cheer about what he had done-- that he had exposed the limits of corporate greed and stupidity.

I was especially bothered by way one of the editors, a woman who he chose as his first patsy because she had been loyal to him throughout his career, was voiced in the audio book edition. While it is difficult for an actor to differentiate between all the character's voices, I found it distracting that this publishing professional spoke like a bubble-headed valley girl. She may not have come across as quite so unintelligent and easily fooled in the Irving text, as she did in the audio version in which she spoke like an unreflective teenager discussing the latest MTV reality show. This seemed particularly unfair to this listener.

So why were the McGraw Hill team so easily hoodwinked? I do not believe it was a simple case of greed and corporate stupidity. There was certainly some group-think and excitement over possibly having the coup of their careers might have clouded their judgement. But they were fooled for the same reason the story fascinates the reader-- who would have the audacity to claim to have written the autobiography of a living person and think they could get away with it? Only someone truly crazy would think that the living person and his organization would ignore such a thing. The unlikeliness of such a scenario is bound to make people believe. The lie is more credible than the truth.

In the end, I was left with the feeling that the damage his caper caused to other people (with the exceptions of his wife and children) was more fictional to the author than the Howard Hughes he created in his mind.

When he is asked if he would do it again, he says he would not. But his remorse is not for others. He says he would not repeat his fraud because "I have lost too much."

I was taken by the audacity and cleverness of the hoax, and propelled by the drama, I would like to have had a more sympathetic main character. Of course, that is a lot to ask from a book by someone with the personality to pull such a thing in the first place.

5 out of 5 stars Riveting, hilarious, and enlightening .......2007-08-24

This book hooked me from the first chapter on. I listened to it on audio CD's read by Joe Barrett, who has the perfect voice for the role. I recommend them highly.

The book is told from the point of view of the affable and daring hoaxter. It provides remarkable insights into humanity--why a successful writer would risk his family and career on such a reckless fraud as inventing the autobiography of the richest, most intriguing person in the world, and why a powerful publishing house bought into it hook line and sinker. Mostly, though, it's just a pleasure to read or listen too. The plot is tight, intriguing, and funny. Especially funny.

5 out of 5 stars Very, Very Entertaining!!.......2007-05-23

This book is so enjoyable to read! Clifford Irving narrates this story in sequential order and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens! His writing style is very good and I enjoyed every minute of this book. I felt I knew every one of the characters and I felt for them, too! I was amazed at how easily he fooled so many people. It all started out so simple but then got out of control. I wondered and still wonder if it was really Howard Hughes at the press conference. He should have been forced to show himself to prove he was really still living. I can't believe that it took so long to make this great story into a movie. You can't make stuff like this up! I haven't seen the movie. Irving says it is nothing like the book, so I'll probably catch it on free TV some day. If you want to read an entertaining book, read this one! You won't want to put it down!

5 out of 5 stars The (probably) true story of the Hughes autobiography scam.......2007-05-21

An obviously talented writer, Irving does an excellent job explaining how he was able, through a combination of chutzpah and luck, to almost convince McGraw-Hill and Time-Life that Howard Hughes had picked him to ghost write his autobiography. Why he did it, however, is never really explained. Greed? The thrill of pulling off an artful scam? The motivation behind his hoax, which in the end only ruined himself, his wife, and his best friend, remains a mystery. Otherwise, The Hoax is extremely entertaining and apparently true, since Irving mentions in an author's note at the beginning that he would be open to perjury charges if anything in the book contradicted his testimony. We can only his take his word for it.
My Friend Leonard
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • i wish i had a friend like leonard
  • Better then AMLP!!!
  • Pleased
  • A great continuation of "A Million Little Pieces"...
  • Great read....lies or no lies!
 My Friend Leonard
James Frey
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1594481954

Amazon.com

In the bold and heartbreaking My Friend Leonard, James Frey picks up the story of his extraordinary life pretty much where things left off in his breakout bestseller and Amazon.com Best Book of 2003, A Million Little Pieces, the fierce, in-your-face memoir about Frey's kamikaze run of self-destruction and his days in rehab. Fresh from a stint in jail from pre-rehab-related charges ("On my first day in jail, a three hundred pound man named Porterhouse hit me in the back of the head with a metal tray."), clean-living Frey returns to Chicago and gets sucker-punched with a cruel blow that will leave readers ducking for cover in anticipation of the blinding bender that's sure to come. But then the titular Leonard, the larger-than-life Vegas mobster ("West Coast Director of a large Italian finance firm") whom James befriended in rehab, steps into the story and serves equal parts unlikely life coach, guardian angel, and father figure for the grief-stricken author, adopting him as his "son" and schooling him in the fine art of "living boldly":

Be not bold, be f-cking BOLD. Every time you meet someone, make a f-cking impression. Make them think you're the hottest shit in the world. Make them think they're gonna lose their job if they don't give you one. Look 'em in the eye, and never look away. Be confident and calm, be f-cking bold.

Hurricane Leonard storms into James's life, showering his young charge with multi-course feasts at steakhouses and Italian restaurants, courtside seats at Bulls' games, Cuban cigars, and an elaborate Super Bowl party in Los Angeles, all the while doling out wisdom on life and love and motivating James to stick to his burgeoning writing career. James even has a brief stint as an employee of Leonard's, though occupational hazards--like having a nine millimeter shoved in his face--prove too much for the novice bag man (though he does make enough to invest his earnings in a Picasso drawing). When Leonard drops out of sight for an extended period, his absence leaves readers aching to hear the familiar refrain of "My Son!" just one more time.

Frey sticks to the taut, staccato style that shot through A Million Little Pieces with such raw electricity. Surprisingly, the tone feels equally at home with this book's focus on friendship and extreme loyalty, and works to intensify the always-looming, adrenaline-rush threat of violence and the lure of the Fury that courses like a riptide throughout the book. Ultimately, it's a sense of hope, and humor even, that prevails and makes My Friend Leonard a stand-alone success. Despite his shady pedigree, you'll long to have a friend like Leonard just a phone call away. --Brad Thomas Parsons

James Frey's List of Books You Should Read


Paris Spleen
Tropic of Cancer
The Great Santini

See more recommendations from James Frey


Amazon.com's Significant Seven
James Frey graciously agreed to answer the questions we like to ask every author: the Amazon.com Significant Seven.


Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: Tao te Ching by Lao Tsu. Completely changed how I think, behave, live my life. Nothing else comes close.
Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: The book would be the Tao te Ching, the CD would be some compilation of love songs from the 70's and 80's, and the DVD would be highlights from the history of the Cleveland Browns.

Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: No way I can answer that.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: I've been working at the same desk since I started writing. It's old and beaten-up and black. The rest of my workroom is empty, except for some crazy sh-- on the wall in front of me: pictures of people I admire, reproductions of artwork I dig, sayings that motivate me, things like--bare your soul, be bold, page a day motherfu--er page a day. I listen to music while I work, have a pile of nicotine gum and a couple cans of diet coke. My dogs are usually a couple feet away from me. I've always worked this way, probably always will.

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: "Loved, lost, laughed, left."

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: Winston Churchill

Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: Immortality.


Book Description

The New York Times bestselling follow-up to the #1 New York Times bestseller A Million Little Pieces-the heartrending story of a friendship between a newly-sober James and the charismatic, high-living mobster he met in rehab, Leonard.

A Million Little Pieces was the first Oprah Book Club pick by a living author in over two years. It instantly became a #1 New York Times bestseller, a #1 USA Today bestseller, and a #1 Publishers Weekly bestseller, with over 1.7 million copies in print.

My Friend Leonard picks up right where Pieces leaves off. A New York Times bestseller in its own right before the Oprah pick, My Friend Leonard is James Frey's story of his friendship with Leonard, the larger-than-life mobster who "adopted" James as he left rehab. Leonard, who offers James lucrative-if illegal, mysterious, and slightly dangerous-employment when he needs it. Leonard, of the secret deals, of the surprising passions that belie his violent career choice, of fantastic generosity and ferocious loyalty. Leonard, who has been holding on to some remarkable secrets, and who has invested in their friendship more than James could ever imagine.

My Friend Leonard is, at its core, about the responsibility that comes with loving someone and going out on any number of limbs to care for them. And it is a book that proves that one of the most provocative literary voices of his generation is also one of the most emphatically human.

Download Description

Perhaps the most unconventional and literally breathtaking father-son story you'll ever read, My Friend Leonard pulls you immediately and deeply into a relationship as unusual as it is inspiring. The father figure is Leonard, the high-living, recovering coke addict ""West Coast Director of a large Italian-American finance firm"" (read: mobster) who helped to keep James Frey clean in A Million Little Pieces. The son is, of course, James, damaged perhaps beyond repair by years of crack and alcohol addiction-and by more than a few cruel tricks of fate. James embarks on his post-rehab existence in Chicago emotionally devastated, broke, and afraid to get close to other people. But then Leonard comes back into his life, and everything changes. Leonard offers his ""son"" lucrative-if illegal and slightly dangerous-employment. He teaches James to enjoy life, sober, for the first time. He instructs him in the art of ""living boldly,"" pushes him to pursue his passion for writing, and provides a watchful and supportive veil of protection under which James can get his life together. Both Leonard's and James's careers flourish . . . but then Leonard vanishes. When the reasons behind his mysterious absence are revealed, the book opens up in unexpected emotional ways. My Friend Leonard showcases a brilliant and energetic young writer rising to important new challenges-displaying surprising warmth, humor, and maturity-without losing his intensity. This book proves that one of the most provocative literary voices of his generation is also one of the most emphatically human.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars i wish i had a friend like leonard .......2007-10-04

the million little pieces has brought me to read on this book, which i really hope there could be another one i can still read on

the story has closed emotions and bonds within
very unforgettable

i shed tears again

5 out of 5 stars Better then AMLP!!!.......2007-08-31

I thought this book was a better story then amlp. While the first story was incredible and hard to put down. I always was waiting for him to crack, and fall back into addiction. As you read "My Friend Leanord" you'll learn many things about James Frey, all of them hard to belive, but all in all, real story-fake story,...an amazing story at that!

5 out of 5 stars Pleased.......2007-08-17

I was pleased with this book because it gave me the closure that I didn't receive from A Million Little Pieces. I don't mind the whole controversy thing. How much truth do you expect from a self-professed crack head?! The emotion that this book draws from the reader is amazing. I felt fully involved and will always have a place in my heart for Frey's work.

5 out of 5 stars A great continuation of "A Million Little Pieces"..........2007-08-16

Despite the issue Oprah had the the question of whether "A Million Little Pieces" was completely autobiographical or not, I really enjoyed the story that was told and was very excited to read "My Friend Leonard" to find out how life after rehab was. The story was great! I enjoyed the fact that this was a continuation of the original book, which I loved!

It took me about 4 days to read this book. I absolutely could not put it down! I couldn't wait to turn the page and find out what was happening! In all honesty, I was sad the book ended! I wanted it to keep going because the story was that good!

5 out of 5 stars Great read....lies or no lies!.......2007-07-30

I read this book LONG after the Oprah controversy and frankly I didn't care if it was a lie. James Frey is a fantastic storyteller. I'm not much of a reader and it is hard for me to find a book that actually captivates my attention. And this book along with AMLP did just that!!! I do suggest that you read A Million Little Pieces before you read this(you'll like this one much better if do!). Both are GREAT reads and recommend it to anyone....lie or no lie.
Pimp: The Story of My Life
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A Dark Ugly Book
  • Pimp
  • Vivid and raw but dated and bumpy
  • Far and away the best of the pimp books
  • Good But Underwritten
 Pimp: The Story of My Life
Iceberg Slim
Manufacturer: Holloway House Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:
  1. Trick Baby Trick Baby
  2. Whoreson: The Story of a Ghetto Pimp Whoreson: The Story of a Ghetto Pimp
  3. The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim
  4. Dopefiend Dopefiend
  5. The Art of Mackin' The Art of Mackin'

ASIN: 087067935X

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A Dark Ugly Book.......2007-09-28

"Pimp" is a dark, ugly book. It's author Robert Beck, aka Iceberg Slim spent much of his life as a pimp. It's written to leave a bad taste in your mouth. That is the intent of the author. This is a chronicle of how he wasted twenty-five years of his life.

Maya Angelou's brother told her a pimp is one of two kinds of men. Either he hates women or he fears women. The process of encouraging, enforcing a woman to sell her body is neither sexy or romantic. The life of a hooker, especially one working the streets is harsh and degrading. A `good' pimp only cares about using his women until they have no more left to give. Only someone who hates or feels the need to control women would make a `good' pimp.

Iceberg Slim hated women.

His father deserted them while he was a baby. Bobby and his mother lead a hand-to-mouth existence for his early years. Early on he is sexually abused by his babysitter. Stability came into his life when his mother marries an older man who was a successful businessman. Young Bobby loved his stepfather. They lead a comfortable upper middle-class existence until his mother runs off with another man.

The image of his stepfather crying in the street begging his mother to stay is repeated throughout the book. He took his hatred of his mother out on women - as a pimp.

Of course things go down hill for his mother. Eventually she gets her act together. But even though stability is restored in his life, Robert wants to be a pimp. Possessing a superior I.Q. (175), he was a straight-A student. In a time of blatant racial discrimination (the 1920s, 30s, 40s) he is given a college scholarship. But his path is set, the seeds of hatred planted years before take root and flourish.

For more details about his descent into depravity and his redemption - read the book.

His writing style is not polished. His language is not refined. But his imagery is stunning. He induces mood and feeling brilliantly. Mood and feeling are enhanced by his lack of polish.

The reader may have trouble with his slang. It's been out of style for 80 years. For example, "vines" means clothes. A woman "georgias" a man when she uses him for sexual gratification without paying. A "square" is a cigarette, etc.

I have noticed a disturbing trend. The black pimp is a role-model for some segments of society. Performers such as Ice-T extol the pimp lifestyle. Iceberg Slim is 'the man'. Whenever this book is discussed as a movie project, the gangsta rappers start lobbying for the part. These guys want to be like him. But not the man he became but the man he was - a depraved parasite. Some of them talk about this book as though it's the Bible.

While this is an excellent book, it is ugly. Richard Beck wanted it that way. He wanted to send a message against pimping and it's lifestyle.

Sometimes I wonder if these pimp wannbes can read.

5 out of 5 stars Pimp.......2007-09-23

I just finished reading this book for the second time, cover to cover in 2 days this time, it is possibly one of the best books I have ever read and keeps you enthralled throughout the whole read.Everyone should read this book because it really gives an insight into a world that most will never see.I have read all of the man's books and this is by far his best work although Mama Black Widow and Trick Baby are up there as well they just don't equal this masterpiece.They only have a 5 star rating but if I could this book would rate 10 stars.

2 out of 5 stars Vivid and raw but dated and bumpy.......2007-09-05

Wanted to like this book better than I did. I was hoping for something great but instead found the tale merely lurid.

Iceberg Slim's tale of pimping in and around Chicago in the 40s is raw and vivid. His life is twisted and he revels in showing us its brutality.

If there is moral clarity anywhere here it must be at the end. I ground to a halt after 75 pages of beatings, betrayals, kinky sex and drug use. The 40s ghetto slang is almost impenetrable at places, a fact acknowledged by the publisher's placement of an (inadequate) dictionary at the end of the book.

4 out of 5 stars Far and away the best of the pimp books.......2007-08-30

Isn't it funny how pimps and pimping are totally mainstream pop culture terms and attitudes among young people these days? From multitudes of 18 year old white boy "pimps" on Myspace, to several HBO documentaries about pimps, to grown white men saying things like "keep your pimp hand strong" and dressing up as parody pimps trying to be funny (this has to be the most tired joke on the planet at this point) to Uncle Toms like Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent doing their modern day minstrel show on Mtv, to those who have "game", the con artists, deceivers, and criminals being the heroes to a good portion of the black community. Those enlightened social engineers and producers of our pop culture sure do enrich our society don't they!?!?

I also notice there are multiple books about pimps and "how to be a pimp" type books on Amazon which at casual look seem so ridiculous that they almost seem to be comedic parodies reminding me of those books written for losers that tell you how to bed beautiful women. If you want a good laugh just read some of the Amazon reviews of the pimp books.

Excluding Magic Don Juans book which is somewhat entertaining Iceberg Slims book is probably the only one worth reading and is head and shoulders above any other books by or about pimps. He doesn't try to glorify himself or being a pimp and while he does give glimpses in the life of being a pimp, drug addict, criminal and eventual prison inmate this book is just as much a self analysis for him as a look into that lifestyle. He states most of the stuff that he experienced and did matter of factly but you get a feeling that writing this book served as therapeutic introspective for Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck. He does a good job of showing what a scumbag he was but he doesn't get preachy or come off as an attention seeker. Its like he took a step back and made an appraisal of what he once was and put it down on paper. He does a good job of painting a picture of the times in which all this occured and situations he was in. I have to be fair and give the guy credit he really was a good writer.

4 out of 5 stars Good But Underwritten.......2007-02-20

This is a very entertaining, fairly informative novel that is worth the read, particularly if you have a novice interest in the subject matter. The problem I have is that some important aspects of Slim's "life story" are too sketchily described. He writes in sufficient detail about the lessons he learned on how to pimp (from Macks he befriended). He effectively pulls you into the story with his vivid anecdotes of the drug abuse, crosses and petty crime that plague urban street life. He goes into the life of a prison convict. Although it's set in the early 20th century, it doesn't read back as dated even with some of its old-fashion slang. It has a contemporary, almost timeless feel which I appreciated. It also has its fair-share of humor and I found myself laughing several times.

But as stated before, it's glaringly underwritten in many places. All of the female characters lack clear personalities traits; this is even true for women he had for many years like "The Runt", Chris, and Rachel. They should've been made more dimensional and distinct from each other if only to provide a more beneficial read. It also would've been intriguing if Slim had depicted the daily life of his stable, to show what being a part of that group was like and how they interacted and co-existed. I realize that the book is entitled "Pimp" but the lives of his ASSETS, on the streets and off, were never described. It almost leads me to believe that Beck had no clue about that part of the life, and that raises my misgivings.

It's also just a little too convenient that he never turns out a normal but troubled, fresh square with finesse and true manipulation. Every woman he cops is a brainless nymphomaniac who's already in the game to begin with (or headed there anyway) and all too happy to work for him after a weak rap or a nasty reproach. To me this is just uninspired and not wholly credible.

While his youth in the first half is painstakingly detailed at a steady pace, some parts of his life in the second half were rushed that shouldn't have been, like his endeavor to get off of heroin. That takes up only about a page. The circumstance of a love-struck girl bent on murdering him is almost mentioned in passing. I would've rather read about these things than about his Tuskegee years or his Georgia affair with the cop's mistress. I saw a lot of wasted potential with this book. As good as it was, it could've been even better- a definitive masterpiece.

All that being said, it's recommended for being intelligently written, somewhat informative, and above all entertaining. Read if you are curious about the subject matter and like hard-boiled, unapologetic fiction.

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