The Way of the Wiseguy: True Stories from the FBI's Most Famous Undercover Agent - Hardcover

Joe Pistone; Donnie Brasco

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0762418397 ISBN 13: 9780762418398

Publisher: Running Press, 2004

Synopsis

Here's the first nonfiction work from Joe Pistone since his New York Times #1 bestseller and hit movie, Donnie Brasco. Perhaps no man alive knows the lifestyle of wiseguys better than Pistone does, having spent six years infiltrating the Mafia as an undercover FBI agent. Now, years later, Pistone reassesses the underworld. Often poignant, and in startling detail, THE WAY OF THE WISEGUY gives readers a first-hand look at the psychology and customs of the wiseguy.The book features 34 chapters that reveal key principles of wiseguy life, including How Wiseguys Carry Out a Hit,” How Wiseguys Get Straightened Out,” and A Typical Day in the Life of a Wiseguy.” Pistone's spellbinding stories provide a first-hand look at this lawless realm of badguys, which is often uncannily relevant to the workings of legitimate big business and everyday social discourse.

About this title

About the Author:

Joseph D. Pistone is the legendary FBI Special Agent who put his life on the line to infiltrate the U.S. Mafia for six years, resulting in the convictions of over 200 mobsters. He lives in an undisclosed location.

From Publishers Weekly:

The romanticized view of the mob gets a reality check in this fascinating guide to the real Cosa Nostra from Pistone, who successfully infiltrated one of New York City's five families as an FBI undercover agent in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During his six years posing as Donnie Brasco, Pistone managed to gain the trust of countless mobsters and was almost formally made a member of the Mafia. That access led to numerous investigations and prosecutions resulting in more than 100 convictions, including those of the bosses who formed the mob's ruling body, the Commission. Pistone's first book, the bestselling Donnie Brasco (later filmed with Johnny Depp in the lead role), presented a detailed chronological narrative of his infiltration. This time, he has organized his experiences into short chapters describing what the gangsters he worked with were really like, with titles such as "A Typical Day in the Life of a Wiseguy" and "How Wiseguys Take over a Business." He makes abundantly clear that the codes of honor depicted in popular culture and self-serving Mafiosi memoirs are myths, as is the notion that the old-timers steered clear of drug-dealing for moral reasons. The book also contains an amazing extra-a CD of an actual FBI surveillance tape in which thugs talk about the idea of doing in Donnie Brasco.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Running Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0762418397
• ISBN 13: 9780762418398
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256