About this item
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSESNew York Times BestsellerNow a major motion picture directed by Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese, starring Academy Award winners Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Anna Paquin, and Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel, and written by Academy Award winner Steven Zaillian. The Irishman "gives new meaning to the term 'guilty pleasure.''' - Bryan Burrough, author of Public Enemies, in The New York Times Book Review "Told with such economy and chilling force as to make The Sopranos suddenly seem overwrought and theatrical." - New York Daily News "A terrific read." - Kansas City Star The Irishman is an epic saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who worked for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th Century. Spanning decades, Sheeran's story chronicles one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in American history, the disappearance of legendary union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and it offers a monumental journey through the hidden corridors of organized crime: its inner workings, rivalries and connections to mainstream politics. Sheeran would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit against The Commission of La Cosa Nostra, the US Government would name him as one of only two non-Italians in conspiracy with the Commission. Sheeran is listed alongside the likes of Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano and Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno.In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews, Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and Brandt turned Sheeran's story into a page-turning true crime classic.
About the Author
Born and raised in New York City, Brandt is the grandson of Italian immigrants who could not read or write any language; and the son of parents whose schooling stopped at the 8th grade due to family finances. Brandt graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1959. On graduation from the University of Delaware in 1963, Brandt became a junior high English teacher in Queens, then a Welfare investigator in East Harlem. On graduation from Brooklyn Law School in 1969, Brandt became a prosecutor in Delaware at a time of lawlessness and new court rules restricting police work, when prosecutors were assigned to investigate homicides before an arrest was made. Adept at interrogation, he was promoted to Chief Deputy Attorney General, his state's second highest law enforcement officer. He wrote "The Right to Remain Silent" (1988) a detective novel based on major cases Brandt solved, praised by President Ronald Reagan. On leaving the office in 1976 Brandt had four men on death row. Brandt then defended major homicide cases, such as, the President of the Pagan motorcycle club accused of killing two witnesses in New Jersey. Brandt transitioned to plaintiffs medical malpractice. The Philly mob retained Brandt to secure the early release from jail on medical grounds of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, the prime suspect in the Hoffa case,. They became friends. Brandt traveled in Mafia circles with Sheeran for close to 5 years, using his interrogation skills and Sheeran's remorse to solve the major homicides of Hoffa, Crazy Joey Gallo and President Kennedy for the true crime "I Heard You Paint Houses". Martin Scorsese is directing a film version adapted by Oscar winning screenwriter Steve Zaillian and starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Brandt became friends with FBI agents Joe Pistone (the undercover Mafia wrecking ball with whom he co-wrote "Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business") and Lin DeVecchio (the intrepid supervisor of the Mafia Commission Case with whom he co-wrote "We're Going to Win This Thing".) Brandt and his wife Nancy have 3 children and 4 grandchildren. They live in Delaware and Idaho. Brandt is working on a new Mafia book and is in demand as a public speaker.
