About this item
"The Life We Chose - an unforgettable story. A really great read." - Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino and producer of GoodfellasFrom Matt Birkbeck - investigative journalist and executive producer of Netflix's #1 movie Girl in the Picture - a revelatory father/surrogate son story that takes readers deep inside the inner workings of the mob through the eyes of William "Big Billy" D'Elia, the right-hand man to legendary mafia kingpin Russell Bufalino, who ran organized crime in the US for more than fifty years.William "Big Billy" D'Elia is Mafia royalty.The "adopted" son of legendary organized crime boss Russell Bufalino, for decades D'Elia had unequaled access to the man the FBI and US Justice Department considered one of the leading organized crime figures in the United States.
About the Author
Matt Birkbeck is an award-winning investigative journalist and critically acclaimed author. Birkbeck's latest book, FINDING SHARON (Summerville 2018) is the sequel to his international bestseller "A BEAUTIFUL CHILD" (Berkley/Penguin 2004) , which tells the remarkable, tragic story of Sharon Marshall, a brilliant young woman who was kidnapped as a toddler by Franklin Delano Floyd, a convicted felon, fugitive, and pedophile who raised her as his daughter while traveling the country using stolen identities. Birkbeck spent six hours in a Florida prison in 2003 interviewing Floyd, who had just been sentenced to death for torturing and murdering a Tampa woman. In FINDING SHARON, he tells the final chapters, including the discovery of Sharon's true identity. His previous books including "The Quiet Don" (Berkley/Penguin 2013) , which tells the remarkable story of Mafia kingpin Russell Bufalino, who built a vast organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency and whose power and influence reached the highest levels of government. Once described by a U.S. Senate subcommittee as "one of the most ruthless and powerful leaders of the Mafia in the United States," Bufalino's legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day. Birkbeck also authored "Deconstructing Sammy: Music, Money, Madness, and the Mob" (Amistad/Harper Collins 2008) , which tells the riveting story of Sammy Davis Jr. and the efforts to resolve his millions in debts and restore his legacy following his death in 1990. The New York Times Book Review called Deconstructing Sammy "Gripping" and "Sensational," and the Los Angeles Times called it "Epic." Birkbeck's A Deadley Secret (Berkley/Putnam 2002 and 2015) , explores the investigation into Robert Durst, the heir to a New York real estate fortune accused of killing his wife and two others. The Durst story exploded in March 2015 with the airing of HBO's The Jinx, in which Durst admitted to "killing them all." Following his arrest for murder, police searched his Houston condo where they found two copies of A Deadly Secret. Penguin re-released an updated version of the book in April 2015. The book was turned into the Lifetime TV movie "The Lost Wife of Robert Durst," which aired in November 2017.Birkbeck is also the coauthor of Till Death Do Us Part (Atria/Simon & Schuster) in 2006 with Dr. Robi Ludwig, a noted psychologist who appears regularly on The Today Show and Larry King Live. Birkbeck has written for the New York Times, Reader's Digest, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, Boston Magazine, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is currently a senior writer at Harrison Scott Publications, covering Wall Street and financial regulatory issues in Washington, D.C.
