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The Mad Ones: Crazy Joe Gallo and the Revolution at the Edge of the Underworld |  | Author: Tom Folsom
Publisher: Weinstein Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 110983
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 1602860815
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1092
EAN: 9781602860810
ASIN: 1602860815
Publication Date: May 5, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A POWERFUL COLLISION OF TRUE CRIME AND POP CULTURE, THE MAD ONES CAPTURES THE REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT OF THE SIXTIES AND BRINGS TO LIFE ONE OF THE MOST VIBRANT ANTIHEROES IN AMERICAN HISTORY. The Mad Ones chronicles the rise and fall of the Gallo brothers, a trio of reckless young gangsters whose revolution against New York City's Mafia was inspired by Crazy Joe Gallo's forays into Greenwich Village counterculture. Crazy Joe, Kid Blast, and Larry Gallo are steeped in legend, from Bob Dylan's eleven-minute ballad "Joey" to fictionalizations central to The Godfather trilogy and Jimmy Breslin's The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. Called the toughest gang in the city by the NYPD, the Gallos hailed from the rough Red Hook neighborhood on the Brooklyn waterfront. As low-level Mafiosi, they were expected to serve their Don quietly, but the brothers stood apart from typical gangsters with their hip style, fierce ambition, and Crazy Joe's manic idealism. Joey aspired to be more than a common hood and immersed himself among the Beatniks and bohemians of the Village. Yearning to live the life of an artist, Joey wrote poetry, painted, and got his kicks devouring existential philosophy. Celebrated as the "king of the streets" by Dylan, Joey was embraced by the city's leading cultural figures as an antihero straight out of Camus. Here, for the first time, is the complete story of the Gallos' war against the powerful Cosa Nostra, an epic crime saga that culminates in Crazy Joe's murder on the streets of Little Italy, where he was gunned down mid-bite into a forkful of spaghetti in 1972. The Mad Ones is a wildly satisfying entertainment and a significant work of cultural history.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A mob reader MUST!! March 8, 2010
Ellen F. Reed (Molokai, Hawaii)
Great book about organized crime. I didn't realize the Gallo brothers stirred up the 50's and 60's mob to that extent. A fun read.
Experiencing Joey January 16, 2010
Thomas Hunt (New Milford, CT USA)
Employing a fast-paced, almost attention-deficit writing style, Folsom delivers a well researched and expertly crafted biography that allows readers to experience rather than merely observe the life of "Crazy Joey" Gallo and his siblings. The author jumpily connects real world incidents and fictional references, as he weaves compellingly through the rackets career of the Gallo brothers.
The book's dance-around style limits its usefulness as a Gallo reference work. However, The Mad Ones is an engrossing and entertaining voyage.
crazy joe 38 years later January 9, 2010
pachagaloop (new rochelle,ny)
nostalgic recollection of wise guy days past. i remember i was taking my finals at cornell when i read about it. it was weird bio. this book is fast read and was totally entertaining.
Great book! December 21, 2009
Robert Scardaci
This book was well written and researched by a guy who was not even around at
the time that these characters and events took place. Fascinating character
study of Joey Gallo, from thug who emulated gangster movie characters to a
refined well-read fellow who rubbed elbows with New York's literary elite.
Brother Larry was also a colorful character in his own right. For a small-time
crime family, the Gallos certainly attracted a lot of attention, from the FBI
to hollywood. Folsom did a masterful job of capturing the life and times of these
somehow larger than life gangsters. A must read for anyone interested in the history
of New York organized crime.
Hard-Boiled & Ham-Fisted December 17, 2009
Kinohi Nishikawa (Durham, NC USA)
Folsom's take on the rise and fall of the infamous Gallo gang is a welcome addition to the literature of organized crime. While Folsom draws from a number of long-forgotten print sources to reconstruct the world the Gallos lived in, his narrative voice is far from dry: the story is recounted in a vernacular-tipped, hard-boiled style that's equal parts Hammett, Puzo, and "true-crime" reporting.
While Folsom's "pulpy" intentions are laudable (as a stylistic choice), I agree with other reviewers that the narrative as a whole suffers from a lack of imaginative cohesion. For one, it's difficult to keep track of all the characters that appear in the story; by deferring to a pulpy tone, Folsom doesn't make it easier for readers to grasp the relationships among them. Moreover, the narrative feels unnecessarily compressed at times as Folsom jumps from one scene to the next without any clear transition between them.
*The Mad Ones* is a gripping read for the sheer audacity of the Gallos' exploits (and the curious celebrity Joey Gallo achieved among the New York jet set). But the book can be a chore to get through at times. Perhaps the best advice I can give is this: like any pulp crime novel, let Folsom's prose wash over you and don't worry too much about the details.
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