Wiseguy

By: Nicholas Pileggi

Narrated by: Nicholas Pileggi

Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Nicholas Pileggi’s vivid, unvarnished, journalistic chronicle of the life of Henry Hill - the working-class Brooklyn kid who knew from age twelve that “to be a wiseguy was to own the world,” who grew up to live the highs and lows of the gangster’s life - has been hailed as “the best book ever written on organized crime” (Cosmopolitan).

This is the true-crime bestseller that was the basis for Martin Scorsese’s film masterpiece GoodFellas, which brought to life the violence, the excess, the families, the wives and girlfriends, the drugs, the payoffs, the paybacks, the jail time, and the Feds... with Henry Hill’s crackling narration drawn straight out of Wiseguy and overseeing all the unforgettable action.

Read it and experience the secret life inside the mob - from one who’s lived it.

Now with an introduction by Martin Scorcese.

©2011 Nicholas Pileggi (P)2011 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The best book ever written on organized crime." ( Cosmopolitan)

Wiseguy goes nonstop...absolutely engrossing." ( The New York Times Book Review)

Good read even after I'd seen the movie 25 yrs ago

I'd read a bad review and was skeptical about the book. Having listened, it gave more detail and seemed more accurate than the movie was, although it's still my #1 gangster movie!

Too choppy

I think I might have liked this book in its unabridged form, however, as an abridged book it is too choppy. Having only the movie to compare it to-a lot of important elements were left out, such as the murder of Billy Bats, burying the body and eventually the murder of Tommy. All in all the book didn't feel so much abridged as gutted.

One good thing the book did was to whet my appetite for the full version.

If you’ve seen the movie not much new here

There are a few details that the movie producers changed from the book but not enough to buy the book. If you’ve seen the movie you have the story.

Great Detail/Corrects Hollywood Embellishments

Highly recommend this book. Like myself, most people by now have probably either seen or heard about the movie. I chose to read this book knowing it would be more accurate to Henry Hill's real life compared to Hollywood embellishments. Although as Henry Himself described the movie is very close to the book but not entirely. This book tells you quite a few things about Henry Hill that is much better than the movie.

Wild Story

Love the book (and the movie) but the audio quality of this recording is poor.

Great!

Big fan of the movie and the book is just as good. Completely satisfied with the purchase.

Half the story left out!!

The abridged version was worse than no version at all. So much was left out the story is incomprehensible.

Good Book

I loved this book, but i wish it were longer. Also what about his final years.

Good book. The movie and the book follow each other very closely.

Good book. I've seen the movie so no real surprises. Still worth listening too. Not a bad way to kill some drive time

Fantastic!

I really enjoyed this book and suggest that even if you've seen the movie, listening to the words from the actual wise guy is thrilling. To me, it was much more than watching actors play the parts.