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Criminology - General & Miscellaneous, Organized Crime, United States History - General & Miscellaneous
Honor Thy Father by Gay Talese — book cover

Honor Thy Father

by Gay Talese, Pete Hamill
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Overview

A classic masterwork newly updated

The electrifying true story of the rise and fall of New York's notorious Bonanno crime family

On New York's Park Avenue on a rainy Tuesday night in October 1964, the famous Mafia chieftain Joseph Bonanno was kidnapped by two mobsters and reported by the police as dead on the following morning. More than a year later, Bonanno mysteriously reappeared, setting off a bloody mob feud that came to be known as the “Banana War.”

In this monumental work—packed with intimate details and brilliant reporting—bestselling author Gay Talese first brought to the American consciousness a world and a life previously known to only a few. No other book has done more to acquaint readers with the secrets, structure, wars, power plays, family lives, and fascinating, frightening personalities of the Mafia.

Synopsis

A classic masterwork newly updated

The electrifying true story of the rise and fall of New York's notorious Bonanno crime family

On New York's Park Avenue on a rainy Tuesday night in October 1964, the famous Mafia chieftain Joseph Bonanno was kidnapped by two mobsters and reported by the police as dead on the following morning. More than a year later, Bonanno mysteriously reappeared, setting off a bloody mob feud that came to be known as the “Banana War.”

In this monumental work—packed with intimate details and brilliant reporting—bestselling author Gay Talese first brought to the American consciousness a world and a life previously known to only a few. No other book has done more to acquaint readers with the secrets, structure, wars, power plays, family lives, and fascinating, frightening personalities of the Mafia.

Los Angeles Times

“Brilliant...Indispensable.”

About the Author, Gay Talese

Gay Talese is a journalist and international best-selling author whose works include The Bridge (Walker & Company 2003), The Kingdom and the Power, Honor Thy Father, Thy Neighbors Wife, and Unto the Sons. Currently at work on the follow-up to Unto the Sons, he lives in New York City and Ocean City, New Jersey.

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Editorials

Time Magazines Literary Supplement (London)

"Mr. Talese’s insight will do more to help us understand the criminal than any amount of moral recrimination."

Mario Puzo

"An incredible job of reporting."

Times Literary Supplement (London)

“Mr. Talese’s insight will do more to help us understand the criminal than any amount of moral recrimination.”

Los Angeles Times

"Brilliant...Indispensable."

Newsweek

"A marvelous piece of work, showing how a good journalist can catch a man just as he is ready to reconsider his past and is anxious to find someone who will listen...A book about a vanishing way of life in America: the Mafia."

New York Review of Books

"An invaluable document."

Book Details

Published
April 1, 2009
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pages
592
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780061665363

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