The Rise And Fall Of A 'Casino' Mobster: The Tony Spilotro Story Through A Hitman's Eyes Paperback – April 21, 2017

Once again, another under-the-radar but thoroughly compelling true-crime Mafia tome by gifted scribe Dennis N. Griffin. This time his subject and co-author is Frank Cullotta, who was the right-hand man and #1 crime partner of Anthony “the Little Guy” Spilotro a/k/a “Tough Tony” (played by Joe Pesci in the film Casino – Cullotta was played by the incendiary Frank Vincent, who sadly passed away several years ago).As an insatiable mob-o-phile, I figured I knew everything there was to know about Spilotro and the tidal wave of crime he unleashed on Vegas from 1971 to 1986. After all, I had read (numerous times) Nicholas Pileggi’s book Casino, Ovid Demaris’ The Last Mafioso (about Jimmy “the Weasel” Fratianno), as well as all five books about the Chicago Outfit by the late great William Roemer (the FBI agent whose entire career was focused on taking down the Chicago mob, and who later kept an eye on Spilotro in Vegas). But I was wrong – Cullotta reveals many secrets about the 24 years (minus a six-year prison stint) he spent either in contact with Spilotro, committing crimes with him, or as his crew chief in Sin City.Cullotta reveals for the first time:(1) Who ordered that Lefty Rosenthal (Robert DeNiro in Casino) be blown up in his car (my assumption that it was Spilotro was wrong!) and why;(2) The inside scoop on many of Spilotro’s murders and murder conspiracies, including the infamous 1962 “M&M” murders that earned him his wings;(3) Juicy info about Spilotro’s little merry band of (alleged) hitmen, i.e., Joey Hansen, Crazy Larry Neumann, Ernie Davino, Wayne Matecki, etc.;(4) The identity of who actually clipped Outfit boss Sam “Momo” Giancana (it wasn’t Spilotro, as I previously believed);(5) Spilotro’s attempted murder of Cullotta; and(6) Never-before-seen photos of these gangsters.In other words, everything I’ve ever read about Spilotro has been from outsiders’ perspectives. There’s not many ex-mobsters, much less former WITSEC-ers, whose careers began in the late ‘50’s, and who are still around to dish about their exploits. Thank God Cullotta is one of them.Fascinating insights are also provided by retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leavitt, who was the Assistant U.S. Attorney who brought down Tony’s crew in the infamous 4th of July, 1981 Bertha’s burglary bust (and which led to Cullotta flipping).Cullotta himself is an intriguing character – unlike the vast majority of mobsters I’ve read about, he seems to utterly lack an ego (in other words, the exact opposite of Spilotro). He’s a no-b.s. straight shooter who sees people and situations for exactly what they are. As a result, everything he reveals and says has the ring of truth. He never tries to pump himself up, nor does he minimize his crimes or the carnage he caused. But he also strikes me as a sharp individual, a born hustler with nerves of steel. I’m looking forward to reading several other books he and Griffin wrote and published together.By the way, it’s my understanding that Cullotta gives “crime tours” of Vegas to individuals and small groups, pointing out all the (in)famous places where La Cosa Nostra and other gangsters committed crimes, including murders, stretching back to the mid-‘40’s when Bugsy Siegel helped launch Vegas. Next time I’m in town I’ll definitely be doing the rounds with him. (Frank Calabrese, Jr. does the same type of tour in Chicago.)As far as Griffin himself, this is now the third book about ex-wiseguys I’ve read. He has an unusual gift for stepping out of the way of his own stories so it feels like the subjects are speaking directly (and intimately) to the reader. For me, he’s quickly joining the pantheon of the greatest mob writers of all time (Pileggi, T.J. English, Jerry Capeci, Gene Mustain, Anthony DeStefano, etc.). As Bill Roemer would say, “Keep punchin’!”

Just as have many folks, I’ve watched the Scorsese film, ‘Casino,’ the classic starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci several times. Finally, recently, I decided to read “The Rise and Fall of a Casino Mobster” by Frank Cullotta. The author, a former mobster on witness protection, claims that his book is closer to the truth than was the film, which, he claims, was a fictionalized story based on truth. I’ve not yet read the book actually used to tell the original story, “Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas” by Nicholas Pileggi, so I am not commenting on that book here.“The Rise and Fall of a ‘Casino’ Mobster is, at once, the authentic tale of one of the legends in organized crime. Cullotta, himself, comes across as a frank, hard-nosed inside player within ‘The Outfit.’ A good deal of the insight is eye-opening and even downright scary. Some, however, comes across as just plain, run-of-the-mill gossip. One case is his ruminations regarding the ‘suicide’ or murder of Marilyn Monroe. Probably, due to it being only his speculation, with no inside knowledge, the discussion should have been edited out. In regards to other insights, though, this is a remarkable insight.What is bothersome is how Cullotta was able to recount, even boast, of several killings he was involved in, directly or indirectly, yet, expresses no remorse.BLUSH FACTOR: As one might expect, a nonfiction book about organized crime written by a mobster-turned-informant is not going to be a book for everyone. Of course, the eff-word and other profanities appear with regularity, but not to an excessive frequency. To me, had the word not appeared in conversations, I would probably not have trusted the author to tell it like it really was.BOTTOM LINEWhen a book claims to be cleaning by shining the light on the ‘real’ Tony Spilotro, I would expect other discussions that do not apply, in some way or another, would be kept out of the discussion. Speculation on the Kennedy’s and Giancana really have no place in this story. At least not insofar as their purported involvement in Marilyn Monroe’s death.Four stars out of five.

This is an excellent, straight forward book on a piece of American history that no one knows more about than Frank Cullotta. His knowledge of the men who made up the mob, and how they ran Las Vegas, is unsurpassed. This is a tell-all book that is written in a conversational style, as though he were sitting with you in your living room. I especially like his explanations of the reasoning behind why "hits" were put on individual gang members. I don't think a fictional novel on how Las Vegas was run by the mob could be nearly as fascinating a read as this book is, and cliche' asit may be to say, I couldn't put it down.

The book was just OK. No new information, except I found out that plea bargains to federal charges are now at the sole discretion of the witness! The author clearly overstated his importance to that aspect of the story, but otherwise a decent read.

Details the skim of the casinos and murders to keep the control of them. Good read.

The style is cut and dried and pretty undramatic, but it captures Frank's doFrank Culottwn-to-earth voice and provides a lot of firsthand knowledge on Tony Spilotro. A must for any Old Time.Vegas fan or collector. I'd live to see a book by Frank that's more about everyday life back in the outlaw days. He knew all the bosses and he he knew the town well, so I think he'd have a lot of interest to say about life in the casinos and around town as it used to be.

The delivery was a little late. Condition was very good. Book itself is fantastic.

After reading "The battle for Las Vegas", this book seems just an attempt to add something else, actually I found it useless.

Very interesting read

Informative look at Spilotro's right hand man in Vegas

It's written like he's sitting a room talking to you. It's a no-nonsense account of what happened from the man that was right there.