Gangster (novel)

Last updated
Gangster
Gangster Carcaterra.jpg
Author Lorenzo Carcaterra
Country United States
Language English
Genre Novel
Publisher Ballantine Books
Publication date
2001
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages416 pp (paperback edition)
ISBN 978-0-345-42529-4 (paperback edition)
OCLC 50325909
LC Class CPB Box no. 2011 vol. 5
Preceded by Street Boys  
Followed by Apaches  

Gangster is a novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra, published in 2001, narrating the life of Angelo Vestieri from the early 20th Century until his death, and his rise to power in the New York City underworld.

Contents

Plot summary

The novel opens in 1996 as Gabe, now middle-aged, keeps watch over an old Angelo Vestieri on his hospital deathbed. Slipping back in time to the Depression, the narrative tracks the rise of the famed mob boss from a simple Italian immigrant to the most powerful man of Manhattan's underworld, when a ten-year-old Gabe, by chance, walks into Vestieri's bar. Vestieri takes the boy under his wing and ushers him into the world of organized crime. Gabe learns what it takes to rule an empire with his mentor, yet when the time comes for Gabe to take over Angelo's operation, he refuses, choosing a normal life despite his deep love for Vestieri. [1]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<i>Scarface</i> (1932 film) 1932 film by Howard Hawks

Scarface is a 1932 American pre-Code gangster film directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Hawks and Howard Hughes. The screenplay, by Ben Hecht, is based loosely on the 1929 novel by Armitage Trail, which was inspired by Al Capone. The film stars Paul Muni as Italian immigrant gangster Antonio "Tony" Camonte who violently rises through the Chicago gangland, with a supporting cast that includes George Raft and Boris Karloff. Camonte's rise to power dovetails with his relentless pursuit of his boss's mistress while his own sister pursues his best hitman. In an overt tie to the life of Capone, one scene depicts a version of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meyer Lansky</span> Russian-American gangster (1902–1983)

Meyer Lansky, known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chazz Palminteri</span> American actor (born 1952)

Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor. He is best known for his film roles in A Bronx Tale (1993), based on his play of the same name, Bullets Over Broadway (1994) for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and The Usual Suspects (1995), as well as his recurring role as Shorty in Modern Family (2010–2019).

Arun Gulab Gawli also known as Arun Gulab Ahir, is an Indian politician, underworld don and retired gangster. Gawli and his brother Kishor (Pappa) entered the Mumbai underworld in the 1970s, when they joined the "Byculla Company", a criminal gang led by Rama Naik and Babu Reshim, operating in the central Mumbai areas of Byculla, Parel and Saat Rasta. In 1988, after Rama Naik was killed in a police encounter, Gawli took over the gang and began operating it from his residence, Dagdi Chawl. Under his control, the gang controlled most criminal activities in the central Mumbai areas. Throughout the late eighties and nineties, Gawli's gang was involved in a power struggle with Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company gang. Gawli is also the founder of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena political party based in Maharashtra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hadley Chase</span> British writer

James Hadley Chase was an English writer. While his birth name was René Lodge Brabazon Raymond, he was well known by his various pseudonyms, including James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Raymond Marshall, R. Raymond, and Ambrose Grant. He was one of the best known thriller writers of all time. The canon of Chase, comprising 90 titles, earned him a reputation as the king of thriller writers in Europe. He was also one of the internationally best-selling authors, and to date 50 of his books have been made into films.

William J. "Wild Bill" Lovett was an Irish American gangster in early 20th century New York.

Jake Arnott is a British novelist and dramatist, author of The Long Firm (1999) and six other novels.

The Irish Mob is a usually crime family-based ethnic collective of organized crime syndicates composed of primarily ethnic Irish members which operate primarily in Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and have been in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish-American street gangs – famously first depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1927 book, The Gangs of New York – the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. and Canadian cities, especially in the Northeast and the urban industrial, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Chicago.

<i>Locked in Time</i> Book by Lois Duncan

Locked in Time is a 1985 suspense novel by Lois Duncan. The story centers around Nore, a seventeen-year-old girl who moves into a new home with her father and her new stepfamily. Soon after she meets her stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister for the first time, Nore begins to suspect something is not quite right about her stepfamily. The author states that the novel explores some of the issues surrounding having eternal life. Duncan says she developed the idea for the novel when one of her daughters was thirteen years old and was having issues with her body image. Duncan mentions that her daughter was "taking everything out" on her, and she began to wonder what it would be like if her daughter never outgrew her adolescence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Orgen</span> American mobster (1893–1927)

Jacob "Little Augie" Orgen was a New York gangster involved in bootlegging and labor racketeering during Prohibition.

<i>The Valachi Papers</i> (film) 1972 film by Terence Young

The Valachi Papers is a 1972 crime neo noir directed by Terence Young. It is an adaptation of the 1968 non-fiction book of the same name by Peter Maas, with a screenplay by Stephen Geller. It tells the story of Joseph Valachi, a Mafia informant in the early 1960s who was the first ever mafioso to acknowledge the organization's existence. The film stars Charles Bronson as Valachi and Lino Ventura as crime boss Vito Genovese, with Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Guido Leontini, Amedeo Nazzari, Fausto Tozzi, Pupella Maggio, and Angelo Infanti.

Ida Burger, known in the underworld of New York as Ida The Goose, was a popular dance hall girl and a prostitute during the turn of the century. She was the subject of a major gang war between members of the Gopher Gang and saloonkeeper Chick Tricker's faction of the Eastman Gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranj Dhaliwal</span> Canadian author

Ranj Dhaliwal is a Canadian author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manya Surve</span> Indian criminal

Manohar Arjun “Manya” Surve, was an Indian criminal in Mumbai. He was one of the educated gangsters who graduated from college and was very well known for challenging and defeating existing gangs.

<i>Jinx Money</i> 1948 film by William Beaudine

Jinx Money is a 1948 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the tenth film in the series and the first one to include Bennie Bartlett as part of the team.

<i>The Heroes of Olympus</i> Fantasy adventure series by Riordan about the Percy Jackson universe

The Heroes of Olympus is a pentalogy of fantasy-adventure novels written by American author Rick Riordan. The novels detail a conflict between Greek demigods, Roman demigods, and Gaia. In the fourth book of the series, there is also a fight against Tartarus, which, in Greek mythology, was the darkest and deepest point of the Underworld.

<i>No Greater Love</i> (novel)

No Greater Love is a novel by Danielle Steel. It tells a fictional story based on the true event of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It is Steel's 28th novel.

<i>Yardie</i> (novel)

Yardie was the debut novel of Jamaican-born British writer Victor Headley, being described as "the publishing story of 1992" when it became the first title produced by Dotun Adebayo's newly established X Press.

<i>The Gangsters Life</i>

The Gangster's Life is a Canadian crime fiction novel by Ranj Dhaliwal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gangster film</span> Film genre

A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The genre is differentiated from Westerns and the gangs of that genre.

References

  1. "From Publishers Weekly". Publishers Weekly.