Yet ANOTHER book recommendation!? The HELL you say!

Now,....it's not that I think you are all a bunch of mouth-breathing knuckle-dragging miscreants who are in need of a literary education,....I just seem to be on a book kick lately.

I was walking out of Barnes and Nobel last night, (freshly raped after paying $45 for season two of Dead Like Me), and I stopped at the true crime section.

The shame of this is that I must reveal I was looking for the new book on The Black Dahlia murder. With the new film out I have been consumed with re-acquainting myself with the fate of poor Elizabeth Short, but I digress.

What I did find,....the little gem that was there,...was the fantastic book by Nicholas Pileggi entitled Wiseguy.

The story of life in a Mafia family and boy-howdy is it ever. In case you may not know or have not yet guessed, this is the real-life account of mid level mobster and pop-culture anti-hero Henry Hill and the (very tight) basis for one of the greatest films ever to hit the silver screen,...Martin Scorcese's Magnum Opus, GOODFELLAS in which Ray Liotta plays Henry with maniac yet subtle brilliance.

The book itself is an unintentional valentine to life in the mob yet is nowhere near as romanticized as Mario Puzo's The Godfather, (also another one of the greatest films of all time).

aficionados of the film will not be disappointed as much of the dialogue as well as Hill's narration were lifted almost word for word from the pages of the text. There's also a lot of stuff in the book not explored in the film, (due, I'm sure, to time constraints as well as story relevance), such as Henry's stint in the Army and a few other things.

Overall I cannot persuade you enough to treat yourself to this book. It's a fast read and you won't be surprised when you go back to it again and again.

Personally, I was delighted because I've been searching for it for years after I lost my copy and I had feared it out of print.

On a side note,....I find it astonishing that Henry Hill is not dead yet. Between his chronic alcoholism and drug use but moreso from his shocking regularity of public appearances.

From his frequent drunken appearances on The Howard Stern Show, (the last in which he could be heard slurringly accosting news reporter Lisa G. for "a caramel macchiato" which she mistook for something far nastier), to his website goodfellahenry where he's hawking his tomato sauce, (Ginzo or "Sunday" Gravy), it's not exactly like you don't know where to find him.

I'm surprised nobody's walked right up to him, said, "You're a f**king RAT, Henry!" and ventilated his skull with a .45.

Perhaps he's just seen as too tragic a figure.

Like shooting fish in a barrel or moreover,....maybe his detractors see it as a more fitting punishment for him to rot away slowly from alcohol and spiritual poisoning.

Maybe dying quick is too good for this Goodfella.

Whatever the case may be,.....Henry Hill and his story, (what you can believe of it), have become a pop culture Mafia version of Cinderella and will forever be in the hearts and minds of film lovers everywhere.

The book Wiseguy is no exception.

Open some red wine, (gimme the white too), cook up some pasta, and give it a good read.

But remember,....keep stirring it, and don't put too many onions in the sauce.

Sean