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Title:

The life we chose : William "Big Billy" D'Elia and the last secrets of America's most powerful mafia family / Matt Birkbeck.

Author:

Birkbeck, Matt, author.

ISBN:

9780063234673

Personal Author:

Birkbeck, Matt, author.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

x, 260 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Content Type:

text

Media Type (RDA):

unmediated

Carrier Type:

volume

Contents:

Pittston -- Russell -- Initiation -- Learning the ropes -- The league -- Gold Coast -- Deportation -- Good for everybody -- The box -- In, out, and in again -- The fixer -- Moving on -- Tookie -- Coming home -- Making do -- The wild, wild west -- The end of an era -- The boss -- Frank -- The beginning of the end -- Take it to the grave.

Abstract:

An investigative journalist takes readers deep inside the inner workings of the mob from the perspective of William "Big Billy" D'Elia, the "adopted son" of legendary organized crime boss Russell Bufalino who was a witness and participant to major historical events that have stymied law enforcement to this day.

Personal Subject:

D'Elia, William.

Bufalino, Russell, 1903-1994.

Subject Term:

Mafia -- United States -- Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Format:

Books

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Library	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Lockport Public Library	34094005005635	B DELIA	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

"The Life We Chose--an unforgettable story. A really great read." --Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino and screenwriter of Goodfellas

From 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. But the government had no real idea as to the breadth of Bufalino's power and influence--or that it was Bufalino, from his bucolic home base in Pittston, Pennsylvania, who reigned over the five families in New York and other organized crime families throughout the country.

For nearly thirty years, D'Elia was at Bufalino's side, and "Russ's son" was a witness and participant to major historical events that have stymied law enforcement, perplexed journalists, and produced false and wild narratives in books and movies--not the least of which being the infamous disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa. In addition, their reach was illustrated by their relationships with Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Michael Jackson, Suge Knight, and many other celebrities and personalities.

D'Elia became the de facto leader of the Bufalino family upon Russell Bufalino's imprisonment in 1979, and he officially took control upon Bufalino's death in 1994 until his arrest in 2006, when he was charged with money laundering and the attempted murder of a witness. He pled guilty to money laundering and witness tampering and was released from federal prison in 2012.

Candid and unapologetic, D'Elia is finally ready to reveal the real story behind the myths and in so doing paints a complicated, compelling, and stunning portrait of crime, power, money, and finally, family.

Author Notes

Matt Birkbeck is an author and journalist who has written articles for The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Reader's Digest and Boston Magazine. He is a former newspaper reporter who joined business publisher Harrison Scott Publications, covering Wall Street and regulatory issues in Washington, D.C.

He has written several books including his biography on Sammy Davis Jr., Deconstructing Sammy: Music, Money, Madness and the Mob. His other title's include: A Deadly Secret, A Beautiful Child, The Quiet Don, and A Deadly Secret: The Bizarre and Chilling Story of Robert Durst.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Journalist Birkbeck (The Quiet Don) paints a fascinating portrait of William "Big Billy" D'Elia, who succeeded Russell Bufalino as head of the Bufalino family in 1990 and ran its operations until his arrest in 2006. Born in 1946, D'Elia was a gangly teenager when he first met Bufalino in a northeastern Pennsylvania pool hall and went to work as his driver and errand boy. Coming from an emotionally distant family, D'Elia soaked up Bufalino's respect: "When I first stepped into that luncheonette, I was like a million other kids trying to figure out their way ahead. But now, after being with Russell, all I knew was I wanted to be with him," he tells Birkbeck. Soon, the childless Bufalino was calling him "son." He bought D'Elia expensive clothes, taught him to shoot a gun, and introduced him to A-listers including Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, and Michael Jackson. When Bufalino died, D'Elia took over the family, and oversaw its criminal operations in Pennsylvania and New York. Through extensive interviews with D'Elia, Birkbeck succeeds in illuminating the emotional dynamics at play in this mafia mentorship. Godfather fans will be rapt. Agent: Susan Canavan, Waxman Literary Agency. (July)

Kirkus Review

A fresh tale of "mafia royalty." Even readers well versed in true-crime tales may not have heard of the Bufalino family, headed for decades by Russell Bufalino (1903-1994), "arguably the most powerful and important organized crime figure of the twentieth century." Bufalino was known as a fixer, the guy who would broker a truce between warring factions or persuade a recalcitrant manufacturer why he should break with the Teamsters. As veteran investigative journalist Birkbeck writes, Bufalino and lieutenant and surrogate son Billy D'Elia were strongly implicated in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, and Billy had tales to tell--not that he told them, at least not to the feds. There were plenty of things to talk about, many full of tangles: Russell was an initial protector of Hoffa, though he warned him that it was a mistake, after a jail term for jury tampering, to try to regain leadership of the union after having made a deal with federal prosecutors to the contrary. On the dirtier side of things, mobster pariah Joey Gallo may have run afoul of Russell just ahead of having his head blown off in a Little Italy restaurant, about which Billy mildly remarks, "Russell? He never said anything about Gallo being killed. Nothing. And I didn't ask him." Throughout, the quotidian details of mob life are fascinating. Regarding the so-called poultry wars of the 1980s, for instance, there was a good reason why a leading manufacturer ran an ad proclaiming, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." Even more intriguing is how Russell, the quiet don, became a central inspiration for Mario Puzo and then Marlon Brando's Godfather, while D'Elia, putatively a waste-management consultant, was an obvious model for Tony Soprano. An eye-opening look at the ordinary--and nasty and lethal--business of organized crime. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Prologue	1
Chapter 1 Pittston	7
Chapter 2 Russell	25
Chapter 3 Initiation	35
Chapter 4 Learning the Ropes	47
Chapter 5 The League	59
Chapter 6 Gold Coast	76
Chapter 7 Deportation	89
Chapter 8 Good for Everybody	100
Chapter 9 The Box	113
Chapter 10 In, Out, and in Again	130
Chapter 11 The Fixer	148
Chapter 12 Moving On	156
Chapter 13 Tookie	172
Chapter 14 Coming Home	183
Chapter 15 Making Do	193
Chapter 16 The Wild, Wild West	201
Chapter 17 The End of an Era	213
Chapter 18 The BOSS	218
Chapter 19 Frank	226
Chapter 20 The Beginning of the End	236
Chapter 21 Take It to the Grave	244
Epilogue	256
Acknowledgments	261

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Table of Contents