
The Sinatra Club
My Life Inside the New York Mafia
Mainstream Publishing
Published on 9. May 2013
Book
Hardback
386 pages
978-1-78057-621-3 (ISBN)
Description
The Mob was the biggest, richest business in America - until it was destroyed from within by drugs, greed and the decline of traditional crime-family values. And by guys like Sal Polisi.
Born into one of the New York Mob's feared Five Families, Polisi ran an illegal after-hours gambling den, The Sinatra Club, that was a hangout for up-and-coming mobsters like John Gotti and the three wiseguys immortalised in Goodfellas: Henry Hill, Jimmy Burke and Tommy DeSimone. Yet for Polisi, the glory days spent robbing banks and pulling heists were fleeting. When he was busted, and already sickened by the bloodbath that had engulfed the Mob as it teetered towards extinction, he flipped and became one of a breed he had loathed all his life: a rat.
In this riveting first-person chronicle of his brazen crimes, wild sexual escapades and personal tragedies, Polisi tells his story of life inside the New York Mob. With shocking candour, he draws on a hard-won knowledge of Mob history to paint a revelatory picture of the inner workings of the Mafia and its larger-than-life characters.
Born into one of the New York Mob's feared Five Families, Polisi ran an illegal after-hours gambling den, The Sinatra Club, that was a hangout for up-and-coming mobsters like John Gotti and the three wiseguys immortalised in Goodfellas: Henry Hill, Jimmy Burke and Tommy DeSimone. Yet for Polisi, the glory days spent robbing banks and pulling heists were fleeting. When he was busted, and already sickened by the bloodbath that had engulfed the Mob as it teetered towards extinction, he flipped and became one of a breed he had loathed all his life: a rat.
In this riveting first-person chronicle of his brazen crimes, wild sexual escapades and personal tragedies, Polisi tells his story of life inside the New York Mob. With shocking candour, he draws on a hard-won knowledge of Mob history to paint a revelatory picture of the inner workings of the Mafia and its larger-than-life characters.
Reviews / Votes
"Fascinating . . . In addition to an exhilarating trip though Italian-American Mafia history, Polisi's text doubles as a heartfelt memoir, wherein he candidly expounds on the pain of neglecting his family and the devastating losses that eventually impelled him to leave "The Life" behind and testify against his former colleagues" * Publishers Weekly * "Brassy . . . evocative . . . an audacious memoir unveiling the machinations of the mob" * Kirkus Reviews *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
1 x 8pp b/w
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
679 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78057-621-3 (9781780576213)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2013
1st Edition
Mainstream Digital
€14.99
Available for download
Persons
Sal Polisi spent much of his life inside the Mafia before he flipped and provided testimony against key Family members. No longer under federal witness protection, he has been featured in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, New York and Playboy and has been interviewed by Larry King, Connie Chung and Matt Lauer, among others. He works as a screenwriter and also speaks in schools and at law-enforcement gatherings as an organised-crime expert.
Steve Dougherty is a freelance writer and journalist who lives in New York City.
Steve Dougherty is a freelance writer and journalist who lives in New York City.