Gangster

Features

• Cover Type: Mass Market Paperback with 416 pages
• Published by: Fawcett July 30, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0345425294
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0345425294
• Book Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.9 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 7.2 ounces

Product Review
It will come as no surprise to anyone who understands the derivative nature of filmmaking that Lorenzo Carcaterra's newest has already been bought for a TV miniseries. After all, how many times can you rerun all three parts of The Godfather? Here the author of Sleepers and Apaches provides a full accounting of the life of one Angelo Vestiere, told from the perspective of two people who witnessed it firsthand: Gabe, the street kid who ultimately betrayed Angelo's hope that he would succeed him; and Mary, the lady who loved him. One knows a secret about the other, which isn't revealed until the book's final pages. But by that time the secret doesn't matter and sheds no more light on Angelo than the reader has gleaned in the previous chapters.

Angelo has few redeeming characteristics. As the protagonist of this sprawling novel of the rise of organized crime in America, he never earns the reader's empathy, despite Carcaterra's attempts to humanize his central character by presenting the "code of the gangster" as a believable rationale for Angelo's existence and his success in his chosen career. By far the more interesting thugs who people this book are Pudge, Angus McQueen, and Ida the Goose, a trio of fellow gangsters the author pulls into Angelo's orbit. Despite their moral and ethical shortcomings, they are picaresque enough to have a certain raffish charm. But Angelo is no Don Corleone or even Tony Soprano. And while Carcaterra's a journeyman writer, he's not ready to inherit the mantle of the late (and in this case sadly lamented) Mario Puzo. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
"I was now well-prepared to be a career criminal I just didn't have the stomach for any of it." Carcaterra's latest crime novel is the tantalizing coming-of-age story of orphan Gabe, groomed by longtime New York City mob boss Angelo Vestieri to be his successor. The novel opens in the 1990s as Gabe, now middle-aged, keeps watch over Vestieri on his hospital deathbed. Slipping back in time to the Depression, the narrative tracks the rise of the famed mob boss from Italian immigrant to lord of Manhattan's underworld, when Gabe, 10, walks into Vestieri's bar after running out on his latest foster parents in 1964. Vestieri takes the impressionable boy under his wing and ushers him into the world of organized crime. Gabe runs numbers, collects debts and learns loyalty and the price of betrayal. Yet when the time comes for Gabe to take over the operation, he refuses, choosing a normal life despite his deep love for Vestieri. As he did in Sleepers and Apaches, Carcaterra shows dexterity in humanizing the denizens of the urban underbelly. Through a fine characterization of the enigmatic Vestieri, he provides a stirring perspective on the ways of mobsters and their history. Yet the book's central theme, the complex choice facing Gabe, is poorly developed, rarely penetrating the surface of his rejection of gang life. Carcaterra's portrayal focuses primarily on violence as the source of Gabe's revulsion, only touching on Gabe's understanding of how mobstersAthrough fear and corruptionAinfluence society in much deeper ways. (Feb. 1) Forecast: From its bold title and catchy cover to the publisher's plans for major ad/promo, including a six-city author tour, this novel promises to perform. Its major push, though, will come down the road, from a four-hour ABC miniseries already in the works.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Gangster (Hardcover) I have already proclaimed myself to be a huge Carcaterra fan in previous Amazon reviews of his two other books, Sleepers and Apaches. I could not wait to get my hands on this one and, once again, was not disappointed by this "master of all storytelling." In an effort to be objective, I tried to imagine that it was written by someone else just to see if I would feel the same way about it. As hard as I tried, reminders of Carcaterra's writing style kept breaking through and those "comfort" recollections of things nostalgic to me came to the surface. I have yet to read one of his books where he doesn't mention The Yankees, St. Jude, The Count of Monte Cristo and playing stoopball. You've got to love this guy. In this book, Carcaterra brings us back, once again, to the streets of Manhattan -- although instead of hanging out in Hell's Kitchen of "Sleepers" fame, we are in the Chelsea section down on 28th Street and Broadway. The story begins with Paolini Vestieri fleeing his homeland of Italy so his soon to be born son won't be influenced by the arm of the MAFIA. Little does he know that this arm is longer than he thinks and it has already reached out to America. It will eventually grab his son Angelo who will end up becoming one of New York's biggest crime bosses. Lorenzo Carcaterra has a knack for introducing you and endearing you to his criminals when they are young boys. By the time they become grown men, you have so much empathy for them, having witnessed their growing up without mothers and most times without money, that you tend to look the other way when they're shooting people dead without a second glance. He also uses the REVENGE theme in each of his books and this one is no exception. When Angelo Vestieri is nine years old, he comes under the guiding hand of two very colorful crime lords, Angus McQueen and Ida The Goose, performing small jobs for them along with his friend Pudge. Together, he and Pudge form an alliance and their loyalty to each other will only be broken if one of them dies. Pudge is the shooter and Angelo is the conscience and the thinker. It isn't until the thing that Angelo holds most dear is taken away from him that he becomes the most ruthless gangster of them all. This is where REVENGE will be "sweet". The story is told through the eyes of a narrator, Gabe, who, as a young foster child, was taken under Angelo's and Pudge's wing to hopefully pick up where Angelo and Pudge will eventually leave off when they are too old to run the "family". Gabe is at Angelo's bedside as Angelo, now an old man, is finally succumbing to the ravages of the hard and sometimes brutal life he has led. He is joined at the bedside by Mary -- someone Gabe has never met yet someone who loved Angelo as much as he. Between the two of them, all the blanks of Angelo's life are filled in as we finally come to realize what drove Angelo to do all he has done. They both will walk away from this experience as changed people as truths and secrets are finally revealed. I love it when I learn something in a book. While this may never be a question on the millionaire show, I learned what the letters MAFIA stand for -- Morte Alla Francese in Italia -- Death to the French in Italy. Apparently, many many years ago, the French had come into Italy and taken land belonging to the Italians. In his book, Carcaterra says, "No gangster is ever happy when he's at peace. The main reason he's in the business is to eliminate his enemies." There are plenty of "survivors" in this book. While the TV show claims that the survivors will "outwit, outplay and outlast" each other, the survivors of Carcaterra's GANGSTER will "outgun, outnumber and outrun" anyone who gets in their way. For me, this author has given me another few days of pure reading enjoyment. In his book, he says "To trust someone is to take a risk." If you trust my reviews, you will read this book -- you won't be risking anything. Comment | | (Report this)