Sinatra Gotti And Me

"This is a story of a man who came from humble, tough circumstances and who tried to make something of himself doing the best he could with what he had. He didn't pick the easiest way or the most obvious way too often. He did things the Tony way, which was off the wall and pure genius at the same time. This is a guy who once told me he figured out early on, 'The right way is the wrong way for me.' "Yes, this book is about Sinatra and Gotti, but what might have brought you to page one isn't what makes this story impossible to put down. This is an American story, and a great story at that." -Pat Cooper Jilly's was one of the most popular, famous, as well as notorious nightclubs in New York City during the 1960s, and then again in the late 1970s when it was revived by Tony Delvecchio and Tony Fusco, and hosted by its namesake, Jilly Rizzo, the best friend of Frank Sinatra. The renovated Jilly's once again became the hotspot for A-List celebrities, gangsters, regulars, and wannabes. From John Gotti to Sinatra himself, Jilly's was the place to be - and proprietor Tony Delvecchio ran it day and night with the able service of the fabulous Jilly Girls, plus a few bartenders provided by Mr. Gotti, before his days as the "Teflon Don." Sinatra, Gotti and Me is a lost piece of American pop culture, a missing first-hand glimpse into the lives of the Rat Pack and a long illustrious list of American entertainment, political, sports, and organized crime icons. This is Tony Delvecchio's eye-witness story, unflinchingly told in his own words to author Rich Herschlag.

An insider's account of the downfall of the New York Mob profiles organized crime at the height of its influence while recounting the author's participation in several lucrative heists, relating his decision to become a federal informant and the ways in which drug, greed and breakdowns in family values were ultimately responsible for the Mob's demise. Reprint.

"An intimate, revealing portrait of Frank Sinatra-from the man closest to the famous singer during the last decade of his life. More than a hundred books have been written about legendary crooner and actor Frank Sinatra. Every detail of his life seems to captivate: his career, his romantic relationships, his personality, his businesses, his style. But a hard-to-pin-down quality has always clung to him-a certain elusiveness that emerges again and again in retrospective depictions. Until now. From Sinatra's closest confidant and an eventual member of his management team, Tony Oppedisano, comes an extraordinarily intimate look at the singing idol. Deep into the night, for more than two thousand nights, Frank and Tony would converse-about music, family, friends, great loves, achievements and successes, failures and disappointments, the lives they'd led, the lives they wished they'd led. In these full-disclosure conversations, Sinatra spoke of his close yet complex relationship with his father, his conflicts with record companies, his carousing in Vegas, his love affairs with some of the most beautiful women of his era, his triumphs on some of the world's biggest stages, his complicated relationships with his talented children, and, most important, his dedication to his craft. Toward the end, no one was closer to the singer than Oppedisano, who kept his own rooms at the Sinatra residences for many years, often brokered difficult conversations between family members, and held the superstar entertainer's hand when he drew his last breath. Featuring never-before-seen photos and offering startlingly fresh anecdotes and new revelations that center on some of the most famous people of the past fifty years-including Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Sam Giancana, Madonna, and Bono-Sinatra and Me pulls back the curtain to reveal a man whom history has, in many ways, gotten wrong"--

Sinatra may not have found his Boswell with this study, but our understanding of him will never be the same again. Rojek's is the first book to take Sinatra's cultural significance seriously. It is a landmark work in our understanding of celebrity and popu.

Hollywood Godfather is Gianni Russo's over-the-top memoir of a real-life mobster-turned-actor who helped make The Godfather a reality, and his story of life on the edge between danger and glamour. Gianni Russo was a handsome 25-year-old mobster with no acting experience when he walked onto the set of The Godfather and entered Hollywood history. He played Carlo Rizzi, the husband of Connie Corleone, who set her brother Sonny—played by James Caan—up for a hit. Russo didn't have to act—he knew the mob inside and out: from his childhood in Little Italy, where Mafia legend Frank Costello took him under his wing, to acting as a messenger for New Orleans mob boss Carlos Marcello during the Kennedy assassination, to having to go on the lam after shooting and killing a member of the Colombian drug cartel in his Vegas club. Along the way, Russo befriended Frank Sinatra, who became his son's godfather, and Marlon Brando, who mentored his career as an actor after trying to get Francis Ford Coppola to fire him from The Godfather. Russo had passionate affairs with Marilyn Monroe, Liza Minelli, and scores of other celebrities. He went on to become a producer and starred in The Godfather: Parts I and II, Seabiscuit, Any Given Sunday and Rush Hour 2, among many other films. Hollywood Godfather is a no-holds-barred account of a life filled with violence, glamour, sex—and fun.

"An honest look at life's second half from Everybody Loves Raymond TV sitcom star and comic Brad Garrett"--

When authors Billy Staples and Rich Herschlag are asked to write a baseball column for The Trentonian, they decide to put their own stamp on it. Covering primarily Philadelphia and New York, they forego the dirt and seek out baseballs role models, well known and not so well known. They sidestep the steroids and find the stories of courage, dedication and humanity the mainstream press so often misses. Shortly after the All-Star break, another storyline develops. In Philadelphia, the 2008 World Champions are beginning to reemerge. Up the turnpike in New York, the Yankees are showing shades of their former selves from a decade earlier. One by one, division rivals fall by the wayside, and on October 25 only the Yanks and Phils remain standing. The Phillies-Yankees World Series is a battle of baseball titans. For Staples and Herschlagwho in their first full year get to cover it from field levelit is the ultimate reward for doing it their way.

The most-trusted film critic in America." --USA Today Roger Ebert actually likes movies. It's a refreshing trait in a critic, and not as prevalent as you'd expect." --Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle America's favorite movie critic assesses the year's films from Brokeback Mountain to Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007 is perfect for film aficionados the world over. Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007 includes every review by Ebert written in the 30 months from January 2004 through June 2006-about 650 in all. Also included in the Yearbook, which is about 65 percent new every year, are: * Interviews with newsmakers such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Terrence Howard, Stephen Spielberg, Ang Lee, and Heath Ledger, Nicolas Cage, and more. * All the new questions and answers from his Questions for the Movie Answer Man columns. * Daily film festival coverage from Cannes, Toronto, Sundance, and Telluride. *Essays on film issues and tributes to actors and directors who died during the year.