Born to the Mob: The True-Life Story of the Only Man to Work for All Five of New York's Mafia Families - Softcover

Saggio, Frankie; Rosen, Fred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1560255595 ISBN 13: 9781560255598

Publisher: Running Press Adult, 2004

Synopsis

Frankie Saggio reminisces about the era of true wise guys like his Uncle Philly —a contemporary of Al Capone. After all, it was Frankie's uncle who "taught him the value of a dollar and how to steal it from someone else." Uncle Philly was from a day when being in a mafia family meant being bound by blood and honor, not like modern day families whose only concern is money. For Frankie, the only way to avoid the modern mob treachery is to avoid getting involved with any single mob family, working "freelance" for all five. Frankie can do this because he is one of the biggest earners in the business, pulling down millions and kicking a share upstairs to the bosses. Though he fights the decision, Frankie is tied by blood to the Bonanno family, Uncle Philly's family, and current home to Philly's murderer. Soon after joining the Bonannos, Frankie narrowly escapes an assassination attempt and is busted for a major scam. With little choice, and even less loyalty to the Bonannos, Frankie turns himself over to the Feds on the one condition that he will tell the feds everything, but will not squeal on his own relatives.

About this title

About the Author

Frankie Saggio is a 20-year veteran of organized crime. Currently in hiding, he will testify in at least five different upcoming Mafia-related trials. Fred Rosen is an investigative journalist whose previous books include Lobster Boy and Gang Mom. He lives in Woodstock, New York.

From Publishers Weekly

The apparently insatiable public appetite for insider stories from the world of organized crime gives Saggio's dramatized third-person narrative, co-written with true-crime veteran Rosen (Lobster Boy), a built-in audience, but don't expect another Wiseguy or Donnie Brasco. Saggio, a federally protected witness following his cooperation against his former partners in crime, relates a familiar, clichéd tale without offering much new. While his schemes involved mail fraud scams and stock manipulation rather than violence, more detailed and better-written accounts of mob infiltration of Wall Street have appeared recently (e.g., Gary Weiss's Born to Steal and Salvatore Lauria's The Scorpion and the Frog). Purple prose ("With a crackle of gears, the bus descended to hell") mingled with blatant errors (the underboss, not the capo, is "one rung below boss"; Rudy Giuliani never prosecuted John Gotti) and "revelations" that are not news (Carmine Galante's assassins have been publicly named before) add up to a disappointing by-the-numbers story. The few touches of humorâ€"Saggio refers to the mob's ruling body, the Commission, as the "Justice League" and compares his life to that of Harry Potterâ€"don't make Saggio, who comes off here as greedy and conscienceless, any more endearing. Readers with a background in law enforcement will dispute Saggio's accusation that FBI undercover agent Joe Pistone was complicit in three murders and that the FBI let those hits go forward.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Running Press Adult
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1560255595
• ISBN 13: 9781560255598
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224