Gangsters and Goodfellas: Wiseguys, Witness Protection, and Life on the Run [Hardcover]

Henry Hill (Author), Gus Russo (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 2004

After a quarter of a century of silence, Henry Hill can finally tell us the rest of his story. Taking readers on a crazy ride of his life hiding out in the Witness Protection Program, doing prison time for drug charges and testifying in high profile mafia trials.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Henry Hill, the inspiration for the book 'Wiseguy' and the movie 'Goodfellas' lives in Los Angeles. Gus Russo, a critically-acclaimed investigative reporter lives in Baltimore.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: M.Evans & Company; First Edition edition (May 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590770293
• ISBN-13: 978-1590770290
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars MILDLY INTERESTING- BAD WRITING, June 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Gangsters and Goodfellas: Wiseguys, Witness Protection, and Life on the Run (Hardcover)

If you have seen the movie "Goodfellas" and you remember the major characters and events, the first half of this book is mildly interesting. Mr. Hill clears up a few mysteries left behind by the movie story, such as who killed whom, etc. The second half of the book, in which Mr. Hill describes his life after he left the gangster business, is boring as can be. He takes drugs, cheats on his wife, takes drugs, cheats on his wife, takes....on and on and on. He still ends up in jail now and then and spends a lot of time in drug rehab centers.
The writing thoughout the entire book is amateurish, repetitive, and poorly edited. You frequently have to mentally fill in words that were apparently left out.
If you want a good insider gangster story, this is not it. This is simply someone cashing in on his notoriety.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More crap from Henry., May 18, 2005

By 

Jorge Rivera (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gangsters and Goodfellas: Wiseguys, Witness Protection, and Life on the Run (Hardcover)

I wonder if old Henry prays for Marty Scorsese each day? He damn well should. I doubt he would've even survived until today if it wasn't for Nick Pileggi first and Marty Scorsese second. . . thanks to them Henry can today peddle garbage like the "gangster cookbook" (!) from a site someone manages for him.

Anyway, at least this one's SLIGHTLY better than most of Henry's usual off-topic BS, as it gives some details he omitted while narrating to Pileggi, plus some post-Goodfellas events. Unfortunately, it also -- mostly, in fact -- contains more of Henry's usual rambling, nonsensical comments and pointless reminiscences. And it's so badly written I could actually believe he wrote it himself this time . . . (nah, he just hired a lousy ghostwriter -- oh, Henry, ya cheapskate! Don't be so stingy or your next ghostwriter may "whack" you, har har.)

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time., August 1, 2005

By 

Colleenie Weenie (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gangsters and Goodfellas: Wiseguys, Witness Protection, and Life on the Run (Hardcover)

I'm giving this book two stars, and I think that is being VERY generous. I'm a HUGE fan of the movie 'Goodfellas' but this was terrible.

First of all, the writing is horrid. There was no flow whatsoever and Henry Hill kept repeating words. Grammar mistakes were ridiculously obvious (ever heard of having it proofread at least ONCE?) Honestly, I didn't even make it through the whole book, it was that bad. I almost always press myself until the end but this time I decided it wasn't worth it.

Henry Hill was obviously just trying to capitalize on his fame. If you want to read a decent book about Henry check out the one written by his kids (Greg and Gina Hill) called 'On the Run' - that one is worth your time.