memoirs

I liked this book a lot. If you're a big goodfellas buff, and most people are, you're in for some entertainment here. Plenty of good anecdotes about the gangsters, their wives, their kids, Gotti -- the whole nine yards.

The thing to keep in mind is that it's written by Henry Hill -- a guy who has no real formal training in grammar (it's explained early on in the book). If you've heard him on Howard Stern, then you know he never really answers the question you ask him, and that voice comes through here.

His life has been a wild ride to read about.

Being a huge Goodfellas fan, I read Wiseguy and read this book on a recent flight. It is a good book and will help clear up some lingering questions you may have had after Goodfella's. For example your learn , Henry Hill's name in the Witness Protection program was Peter Haines later changed to Martin Todd Lewis and he lived in several states in the mid west before ending up in Washington. You also learn about what he is up to these days. Parts of the book are drawn out with old stories but it doesn't take away from the overall reading experience. Although, it is poorly written with tons of typos and mis-placed words, I got the sense they rushed this book out to beat a deadline (no pun intended) and never proof read it. It looks like they did nothing more than a routine spell check.

All in all if you are a Goodfella's fan you should read this book it will be worth while. I am glad I read it and after the first few chapters the typos and grammar issues are easy to deal with.

I have recently read "Wiseguy", "Casino", "Donnie Brasco" and am still reading Henry Hill's book "Gangsters & Goodfellas". I was hoping for a lot, but about 2/3 of this book is a rehash of "Wiseguy", only not as well told. There are numerous wrong word/name usages (like it wasn't proofread, just run through a spellchecker). Also, he tells some of the same stories 2 or 3 times in different parts of the book. Overall, it just seems like a vain attempt to revisit the well one too many times. Even the photos could have been much better and captioned better. There's a Christmas photo that's interesting, but Henry doesn't say who's in the picture with him! How about more pictures of the Varios, Burke, and the Lufthansa crew? I could use less pics of the "reformed" Henry with his huge gut and more vintage photos from his "glory days".

There are also statements that say Henry was present at multiple hits, but Henry on Howard Stern claims he never killed anybody. Guess what, Henry? Being at a murder makes you a murderer! You're lucky you got transactional immunity.

This is just a poorly written book. If you're lucky you can eke out a few morsels, but just check it out at the library or wait for the paperback...