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Honor Thy Father
A classic masterwork newly updated
The electrifying true story of the rise and fall of New York's notorious Bonanno crime family
On New York's Park Avenue on a rainy Tuesday night in October 1964, the famous Mafia chieftain Joseph Bonanno was kidnapped by two mobsters and reported by the police as dead on the following morning. More than a year later, Bonanno mysterious
...morePaperback, 548 pages
Published
April 1st 2009
by Harper Perennial
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Reena
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Ms. Balmeo
Honor Thy Father by Gay Talese is a well written and reported literary journalism novel about the Mafia. The author has evidently collected a huge amount of research about each incident and character in the novel. The book introduces readers to the tough, exciting world of the Mafia.
Aside from the chapters in the novel, Talese has included a foreword, author's note, and glossary of characters and a couple of phrases to help the reader. There is also a set of pictures to let the reader...more
Aside from the chapters in the novel, Talese has included a foreword, author's note, and glossary of characters and a couple of phrases to help the reader. There is also a set of pictures to let the reader...more
As part of my family history research, I've read a number of books recently about New York Italians, crime, and the criminal justice system. More than any other, this one clearly describes the relationship between members of the Mafia (which I don't think my ancestors were) and members of the community who were "connected" and helped the Mafia earn money by engaging in illegal activities--which I know at least one of my ancestors did. For that reason, I appreciated this book. At the sa...more
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One of the mainstays in the genre of organized crime, it is a large book that says very little.
Author Gay Talese is talented in writting up oral histories. To this end, he explores the thoughts and emotions of Bill Bonanno as he sought to aide his father in running a Mafia family. However, from such an obviously biased source, the text carries some credibility issues.
Much of the book adds little or nothing to the autobiography of Joe Bonanno. Like "A Man od Honor...more
Author Gay Talese is talented in writting up oral histories. To this end, he explores the thoughts and emotions of Bill Bonanno as he sought to aide his father in running a Mafia family. However, from such an obviously biased source, the text carries some credibility issues.
Much of the book adds little or nothing to the autobiography of Joe Bonanno. Like "A Man od Honor...more
Fascinating and deeply detailed study of growing up in the Mafia. Far more emotionally interested and personally engaging than any true crime book I've come across: really sensitive, empathetic journalism that doesn't skimp on information-- whether it's about how numbers rackets work, what kinds of pressures the son of a mafia boss feels growing up, or what mafia soldiers do to pass the many hours of boredom that comes with the job, the book patiently covers it all.
Gay Talese is a great writer, but man, he needed an editor on this book. It's far too long for a largely personal tale of the mafia. That said, Talese's insight into the Bonanno family makes you realize that the Godfather is so accurate that it's frightening. I am glad that I read this book, but I don't think I would recommend it to anyone who isn't really interested in Talese or the mob.
The story of Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno, son of crime-family boss Joseph Bonanno. Covers the stories of both father and son, but concentrates on Bill (who died in January at age 76). Great insight into mafia life in the early '60s. Learned a lot about things that were going on in New York City when I was a kid that I wasn't even aware of at the time. By necessity, you have to take things with a grain of salt, since the book was written with Bill Bonanno's cooperation -- for instance, his...more
Talese needs to back on the dry, complete courtroom testimony reprints, but the picture of real-life mafiosi living largely boring, uneventful if stressful and anxious lives is revealing.
"They had all come to Sicily and done what men do when away from home, and the history of Sicily was a litany of sailor's sins."
Another pulpy read from long ago. Enjoyed it as I recall. Date read is a guess.
Gay Talese did it with brilliant style. Hard to put down.
"Ehre deinen Vater" erzählt die Lebensgeschichte von Bill Bonanno, dessen Vater Joseph einer der führenden Köpfe der New Yorker Mafia war. Durch seine Erzählungen bekommt man einen ganz neuen Blick auf die Menschen hinter dem Begriff "Mafia" und an vielen Stellen fühlte ich mich stark an die TV-Serie Sopranos erinnert. Als etwas störend empfand ich die vielen Orts- und Zeitwechsel mit denen der Autor und Journalist Gay Talese die Hintergründe zu einigen Ereignissen erklärt ha...more
Peter Edwards
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Made mobsters real, not cartoons. He makes reporting art.
Great book, but if you come to it expecting the Godfather, you'll be disappointment. However, I did learn quite a lot about the mafia that I didn't know before.
Slow moving.
This book is practically a clinical study of one of New York's notorious Five Families by a journalist who had nearly unprecedented access to a Mafia member. Talese also provides a nice history of the Five Families. The author's prose remains highly readable despite his meticulous attention to detail.
Amazing that it's all true. How a reporter was able to get such access is simply astounding.
How I first fell in love with Mr. Talese <3
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Gay Talese is an American author. He wrote for The New York Times in the early 1960s and helped to define literary journalism or "new nonfiction reportage", also known as New Journalism. His most famous articles are about Joe DiMaggio, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.
More about Gay Talese...
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