Goombata: The Improbable Rise and Fall of John Gotti and His Gang

This brisk, no-holds-barred biography of Mafia boss John Gotti often makes The Godfather look tame. Gotti, recently acquitted of ordering the murder of a union official, is portrayed as a violent thug who worked his way up the mob's ranks, gaining expertise in contract murder, airport theft, hijacking, heroin trafficking, illegal gambling and extortion. In tracing Gotti's ``perverse American success story''--his climb from young bookmaker stalking East Harlem in all-purple outfits to Gambino family boss--Cummings and Volkman (coauthors of The Heist ) also perform a biopsy of a social cancer, the modern Mafia. This is must reading for anyone who wants to understand La Cosa Nostra. Photos. Author tour. (Apr.)