Customer Reviews

Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti

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When I picked this book up I thought I would get a nice history of Gotti. That was true to some extent but the majority of the book was devoted to the trials. If you are a lawyer or someone who is interested in that sort of thing then this book is for you. If you want a good read then pick up the Capeci book on Gotti,that is top of the line! You can also read this if you are having problems sleeping....

The final chapter in John Gottis book of life. The prologue and postscript give the reader true insight to the late John Gotti and his final days existing in solitary confinement in one of the toughest correctional facilities in the American system.
This is a must read for anyone with the least bit of curiosity about the Mafia and it's late "Teflon Don".

This book was accurate and for someone who is intrested and enjoys reading about John Gotti this is a great book for you to read. A little dragged out in some areas such as the Trials but very interesting. I enjoyed reading this book very much, as i believe you will as well

John Gotti started out as a nobody from Queens,New York, who would later become the biggest know name in the mafia today. After he assassinated Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino family John started to climb his way up in the mafia life.Through out the book the authors go into great detail about John and the family. John was always a fan of the press and media, he wanted his name to be know to all. That was also exactly what happend. John was the most feared man in New York for most of the 80's and the early 90's. After gettin extreamly popular the FBI and RICO started to fallow him and bug his hidouts and homes. In the mid 90's John and his two main men Sammy and Frankie were arrested and sentenced to life in prison.After that the Gambino family fell apart.

The book Mob Star was thrilling and exciting. After reading the first chapter it was hard not to put this book down. The way the authors go into great detail about what is going on and how it happens, you feel like you were in the same room with john at every moment.Mob Star is a very fast reading book,only because you can not wait to see what John Gotti gets into next.I would recomend this book to anyone who likes the Mafia or just wants to read an excilent book.

Mob Star is an interesting book - it chronicles Gotti's rise to power from a street punk, to a don who rose to power by successfully orchestrating a hit on his own boss, and thumbed his nose at the cops. While it is not as captivating as the Valachi Papers, or Underboss (Sammy Bull's account), it's a fairly solid and comprehensive detail of Gotti. The book suffers from several shortfalls, however.

First, it tends to bob and weave through the timeline quite a bit, which complicates the read a bit. As an example, Paul Castellano's hit is discussed in detail early on in the book, even though chronologically, it should have occurred towards the end.

Second, the book is grammatically sound, for the most part, but is riddled with typos and misspellings, some in unforgivable locations (e.g. first line of a chapter). There are at least 4 instances where 'blue collar' and 'white color'(sic) are used in text. Given that this is a reprint, such editing mistakes negatively affect the book's credibility.

All considered, however, the book is a good read. I wouldn't place it at the same level as the two mentioned earlier (in fact, it's well below most of the good Mafia reads), but it's worth a read at least once.

MOB STAR is a fascinating read--and the most up-to-date book on the story of John Gotti you'll find. Highly recommended!

I'm assuming that the newer editions are similar to the original 1988 edition.

This book shows how difficult it is to understand criminals and criminal activity. By its nature there is rarely a written record and often participants will not speak of events. It is interesting how often the 2 FBI informers in Gotti's group contradict each other, even the criminals don't know what is going on! Hence this book relies heavily on transcripts from phone taps and listening devices, putting Gotti and co centre-stage in their own words.

What this method lacks is CONTEXT and there is no attributed input from other people - criminals, police, and lawyers especially - who could put (maybe) Gotti in some sort of social framework. So we read a lot of Gotti's talk but little about what he actually does.

Consequently there is no sense of Gotti's rise within the Gambino organisation, for most of the book he is just a gangster at the Bergin Club. Then suddenly, near the end, he is sitting down with Castellano (Godfather) and Dellacroce (Underboss) to discuss plans for running the organisation if Castellano is jailed and Dellacroce dies. He is obviously a powerful force in the organisation but the book fails to show how he became so.

Again, common lore has it that a New York Godfather's assassination must be sanctioned by the other families, so Gotti must be prominent enough to deal with them and obtain their acquiescence. Again there is no indication of Gotti's relations with other Mafia families in the book.

Within the Gambino organisation Gotti must have persuaded others to support him and must have neutralised rivals. There must have been many other men who wanted to be Godfather, how did Gotti deal with them? Again the book is silent on these matters.

This is why 1 of the other reviews states that Gotti's rise within the Mafia started with Castellano's death. In reality, of course, Gotti could kill Castellano only because he had already risen with the Mafia.

The author adds too much personal opinion into the text. If you're looking for straight facts, all the personal opinions can be really annoying to sort through. Because of the unprofessional insertions, I wouldn't recommend it for a research project; which is unfortunate because the book had some decent facts mixed in between the author's delusional ego.

John Gotti started out as a nobody from Queens,New York, who would later become the biggest know name in the mafia today. After he assassinated Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino family John started to climb his way up in the mafia life.Through out the book the authors go into great detail about John and the family. John was always a fan of the press and media, he wanted his name to be know to all. That was also exactly what happend. John was the most feared man in New York for most of the 80's and the early 90's. After gettin extreamly popular the FBI and RICO started to fallow him and bug his hidouts and homes. In the mid 90's John and his two main men Sammy and Frankie were arrested and sentenced to life in prison.After that the Gambino family fell apart.

The book Mob Star was thrillin and exciting. After reading the first chapter it was hard not to put this book down. The way the authors go into great detail about what is going on and how it happens, you feel like you were in the same room with john at every moment.Mob Star is a very fast reading book,only because you can not wait to see what John Gotti gets into next.I would recomend this book to anyone who likes the Mafia or just wants to read an excilent book.

The book is a one sided story told by a man who is "obsessed" with John Gotti. Full of news reports that could be fact or fiction. This author has made a ton of money off the Gotti name and continues to do so. He will not let go, we know $$$ motivates him, we know the name GOTTI sells/promotes his web site, articles, and books, but could there be more to the relentless vendetta he has against JOHN GOTTI or is it in Italians themsleves. A dirty little secret?? The rumor is Jerry Capeci uses a pen name, and in fact he is of "irish" ethincity by birth. Could he have a hiddin agenda which motivates his writings of Italian Americans negative light????? Let us know Mr.Capeci!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!