Customer Reviews

The Valachi Papers

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many have denigrated Joe Valachi's testimony as being only the limited view of a street-level Mafia soldier, largely hearsay and often possibly erroneous. There is a certain amount of truth in these judgements. It is also true that, unlike earlier stool pigeon Abe Reles twenty years earlier, Valachi's testimony didn't directly send anyone to prison and some of what he told was old news anyway. On the other hand, Valachi was a "made member" of what he called Cosa Nostra for over thirty years and his criminal career dated to the 1920's. He may not have always been a major participant but he was there and saw the formation of the modern Mob as we know it. The Castellammarese War, Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz and Tom Dewey, Murder Inc., the Costello years, the intrigues of Vito Genovese, Valachi was on hand and his is the first detailed inside account of the formative years of the American Mafia. Compare The Valachi Papers to the nonsense written about the Mafia in the '50's. His expertise may have been limited to New York but before he turned no one outside the organization really knew anything about the Mafia, its bosses or its family structure. No one outside the organization had any idea that five crime "families" existed in New York or that the organization was divided into "families" until Valachi came along. Or that there was a national commission. Say what you will, Valachi exposed the Mob and put it in the spotlight for all to see. It's been there ever since and we have Joe to thank for this. And Peter Maas for turning his memoirs into a wonderful book.

If you are at all interested in reading about the mafia this is certainly the place to begin. Valachi was there from the beginning, he was in fact a made man in order to swell the ranks in preparation for the war that essentially created the cosa nostra as we know it. Once in he adopted the Cosa Nostra as his true family and lived the life of those violent brethren.

This is in fact, essentially, a history and a biography all in one, so it is a bit hard to inject emotion into it as the previous reader complained about. Read it as a history, not as a book of fiction, and you will go into it with the right mindframe. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed reading this as I didn't have much of a background knowledge of the mafia other than names. Without knowing it much of what I knew from watching fictionalized movies all stemmed from this book and what was revealed.

At times you wonder if Valachi was just some crazy man that made everything up and was an avid reader of crimes (a la the Benet confessor, John Mark Karr), but the detail is way too in depth. All one can do is believe it as true, which makes this book all the more interesting. I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone curious about the Cosa Nostra as this is certainly the place to begin.

5 stars.

There are books that without them you would never have a basis for any other to follow. The Valachi Papers is the book that set the Mafia on its heels and allowed the world to see and finally get a look into the "real" underworld.

By far one the best reads I have had this year and certainly a must read for anyone weho thinks they know what the mafia is all about. This is the book that started it all and gave me my start into a whole world.

What this book does is tear down the walls of mystery and open your mind to new ideas about the mob. The book shows how it happened and what took place. Due to some of testimony being somewhat graphic younger reader may want to take caution before they begin the book.

The book is far better than the movie and knowing that this was told by someone on the inside makes it all that more exciting to read. Overall if you want to know where it all began, than look no further that this book.

The Valachi Papers is a good book written by Peter Maas. This is a book of Joseph Valachi's life of crime and his involvement in the Mafia. When Valachi was eighteen he was already in a gang. Valachi claimed he was always the driver, but his involvement in this ended soon. He was replaced, but Valachi started his own gang. Later, Valachi was recruited into the Cosa Nostra, which means "this thing of ours". At first Valachi did not like his role in this membership because he played the role of a pimp. Valachi took his role in many murders, but he never played the main part. After many years of service to the Cosa Nostra, Valachi was caught and put in jail. Even though Valachi was one of the Cosa Nostra's most loyal "soldiers", he broke the code of silence. Valachi was in prison for 33 murders, he talked for a lighter sentence. Valachi told the police and FBI almost everthing he knew about crimes. Valachi helped solve some of the cases which have been open for years. He told of some of the deepest secrets that the Cosa Nostra meant to be secret for all eternity. When Valachi joined the Cosa Nostra, he was passed a piece of burning paper and he swore: "This is the way I will burn if I betray the secret of the Cosa Nostra." He had also given the blood oath to "live by the gun and knife and die by the gun and knife". For betraying the Cosa Nostra of these oaths, a 100,000 dollar price was put on his head. This book is very good because it is told from the inside, which tells of all the little details and actions. Valachi is now in a maximum security cell, where he will spend the rest of his life.

This book in it's own subtle manner describes when the Mafia was born in America. It describes the formation of La Cosa Nostra by Salvatore Moranzano, 'lucky' Luciano and Al Capone amongst others. a must read for enthusiasts of this subject.

Joe Valachi, aka "Joe Cago" was a racketeer from East Harlem where trouble would breed daily on the streets of 1st Ave. For a New York guy, it was very interesting to read this book, and notice all the similar streets in Harlem and in the Bronx as well. This book definitely takes you back to another era (one that you will never see again). I found it interesting to read about how Valachi got into trouble with someone, and then had to squash a beef, switch into another crew for fear of retaliation, etc... It portrayed some different views that you just don't see in a lot of books. *You realize that you're getting a 1st hand account of someone who was around organized crime figures (and was in fact - one of those figures himself).

I like the fact that this book displays how mob life is not all what you see in the movies: it's not people making all kinds of money and living the high life. For others like Joe Valachi - there are tough times when you're broke, in jail, or just not getting along with certain people (to the point where it may hurt your street credit). Realize that when your status is scarred in this particular circle, you may wind up dead...

There were some rare things mentioned in this book too - where Valachi stated he never abused someone who owed him money. He was a loan shark that didn't believe in raising his hand. He would rather solve the problem in a more business-like manner. There was mention of all the stoolpigeons being held in Westchester County Jail. I didn't realize how many rats there were at that time. It goes to show you that informants were always present, not just what you read in the papers today.

This book was a nice easy read and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading about a true story of someone growing up on the other side of the tracks where the only education a kid can get is in the street!

i really enjoyed this book and was well worth it looking for it everywhere.i finally found it at a salvation army store for 50 cents.this book tells the story of the first mafia member to expose the mafia to the world.you"ll find out how the real gangsters operated and socialized back in the day.an intense book.

This book provides a wonderful birds-eye view into the early Cosa Nostra. Well- written and well-researched by the author, he skillfully organizes the thoughts of Joe Valachi, a racketeer and soldier in the Cosa Nostra from way back when. Valachi's reminiscences of the mob of the nineteen twenties through the nineteen sixties come alive for the reader in the expert hands of the author, an award winning investigative journalist. It is a cohesive, interesting, and painstakingly detailed account of life in the Cosa Nostra.

This was one of the first such insider accounts of the Cosa Nostra, and it almost never got written, as the federal government sought to bar the author from writing and publishing such a book. The author, however, took on the federal government on that issue and filed a lawsuit. Ultimately, he emerged victorious, and the book, one of the first of its kind, became a bestseller and a motion picture that was a box office hit.

For those who enjoy reading about true crime and the Mafia, it doesn't get much better than this.

I had been looking for this book for years, althought I live in Mexico I found it at a used books store in Albany, NY. This one is a view to the old way of mafia life, for those who appreciate old values in that life, better than the rotten ones of the 90's. Well fitted for a good collection

This is a dated but gripping inside look at the crime syndicate of New York City. Joseph Valachi (1904?-1971) spent nearly four decades involved in stolen goods, loan sharking, illegal gambling, heroin distribution, vending machines, and, of course, murder. A made man, Valachi describes his many years in La Cosa Nostra ("Our Thing"), various ways of making an illegal buck, public corruption, and the deadly violence that kept people in line. Readers learn about Dutch Schultz, Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, Carlo Gambino, and other now-gone bosses. We learn about informants, double crosses, dirty deals, and hits, including the follow-up police reports/investigations that usually led nowhere. Valachi shows that contrary to perception, the mafia's deadly violence occasionally extends outisde mob circles to kill innocent civilians. Additionally, he confirms suspicions of both a national commission and a powerful Italian-run mafia - contradicting foolish denials from FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover and later, NY Governor Mario Cuomo. Valachi was the first big Mafioso to turn informant, doing so from Federal Prison in Atlanta after imprisoned boss Vito Genovese (1897-1969) falsely concluded that Joe was a rat and had to go. In the capable hands of author Peter Maas (1929-2001), readers get the story in gripping detail. Some of Valachi's claims seem self-serving and debatable, but much of his story has since been corroborated. This book remains a gripping expose of the mob, as are WISEGUYS, CASINO, DONNIE BRASCO and other top books on organized crime.