Power and Greed: Inside the Teamsters Empire of Corruption

Friedman, a former Teamsters' boss who was imprisoned for embezzlement, was a self-styled ``slugger,'' con man, arsonist and, on the face of it, is now an unregenerate ex-criminal. This tough-talking ``as told to,'' written with Schwarz, author of Delorean , is a self-glorifying expose of the Teamsters' union, its internal power struggles and reported ties to the Mafia. Friedman maintains that in 1980 he gave Edwin Meese a suitcase filled with money for Ronald Reagan; he boasts of the Teamsters' domination of White House labor policy under Reagan; he discloses that the mob had a death contract out on his nephew, Jackie Presser, who died of cancer in 1988. He admires Jimmy Hoffa's ``charisma'' and reports on extortion rackets, car bombs, gambling, gun-running to Cuba and various scams while intermittently asserting that he is a friend of the union rank-and-file. 50,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo. (June)