The Good Rat Audiobook By Jimmy Breslin cover art

The Good Rat

A True Story

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The Good Rat

By: Jimmy Breslin
Narrated by: Richard Davidson
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Jimmy Breslin can sniff out a story like he can sniff out a rat. Here, he tells a lifetime of anecdotes in his inimitable New York voice, giving us a view through the keyhole of the people and places that define the Mafia: characters like Sammy the Bull, the original snitch; Gaspipe Casso, named for his weapon of choice; and hangouts like Pep McGuire's, the legendary watering hole where reporters and gangsters (all hailing from the same working-class neighborhoods) rubbed elbows and traded stories.

But best of all, Breslin captures the moments in which the Mafia was made and broken. Breslin was there the night John Gotti celebrated his acquittal, for example, having bribed his way to innocence.

In The Good Rat, Breslin brings together the most recent, most memorable, and the long forgotten stories to create a sharp-eyed portrait of the mob as it lived and breathed, as it sounded and survived.

©2008 Jimmy Breslin (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America Crime Murder Organized Crime True Crime Celebrity Mafia

Critic reviews

"[Breslin is] the city's steadiest and most accurate chronicler." (The Village Voice)
Fascinating Mafia Stories • Authentic Mob Accounts • Excellent Narration • Compelling Storytelling • Engaging Performance
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The actual mob guy tells a better story than the narrator. still a good book even for a snitch.

great story

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a good listen, i never even heard of burt kaplan til this book, but it was a good story. alot of mob stuff and alot of gaspipe stuff. worth a listen.

not bad!

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If the author had left out his strong opinions about actors and mafia men and just stuck to the story it would have been an awesome book. He jumps timelines so often that it became very confusing. I did however love how it was performed.

story meanders

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Excellent narration! Good storyline. I wasn’t bored and trying to make it to the end like I am with some books.

Great Selection

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this book has a lot of true stories about NY mob figures as told by people who were there. a very interesting book

interesting mafia stories.

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Crazy how I use to see these guys grownup and to hear there story's truly makes me understand New York was a special place. There's something's you learn in New York that are priceless grownup.

Crazy how I use to see these guys grownup

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This was a great book the story was awesome generation was great it really felt like you were hanging out with mobsters or sitting in a quart room overall I truly enjoyed it I devoured this book I listen to it in three Sitting

A really great story

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Breslin reads a lot like the hard hitting brevity of Hemingway . Hard to believe but having managed qbs I know this to be true

Characters

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Always a fan of stories about the mafia, the best being the Godfather. This book is okay but there are bunch more better ones. But still take a listen for yourself and then decide. The narration by Richard Davidson was okay.

Descent Story

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EXCELLENT audiobook by my ALL TIME FAVORITE author Jimmy Breslin!
Narrator was excellent as well
Highly re8!

EXCELLENT audiobook!

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