Mob Daughter

The Mafia, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and Me!

By: Karen Gravano, Lisa Pulitzer

Narrated by: Karen Gravano

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

From Karen Gravano, a star of the hit VH1 reality show Mob Wives, comes a revealing memoir of a mafia childhood, where love and family come hand-in-hand with murder and betrayal.

Karen Gravano is the daughter of Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, once one of the mafia's most feared hit men. With 19 confessed murders, the former Gambino Crime Family underboss - and John Gotti’s right-hand man - is the highest ranking gangster ever to turn State’s evidence and testify against members of his high-profile crime family. But to Karen, Sammy Gravano was a sometimes elusive but always loving father figure. He was ever-present at the head of the dinner table. He made a living running a construction firm and several nightclubs. He stayed out late, and sometimes he didn’t come home at all. He hosted “secret” meetings at their house, and had countless whispered conversations with “business associates.” By the age of twelve, Karen knew he was a gangster. And as she grew up, while her peers worried about clothes and schoolwork, she was coming face-to-face with crime and murder. Gravano was 19 years old when her father turned his back on the mob and cooperated with the Feds. The fabric of her family was ripped apart, and they were instantly rejected by the communities they grew up in.This is the story of a daughter’s struggle to reconcile the image of her loving father with that of a murdering Mafioso, and how, in healing the rift between the two, she was able to forge a new life.

©2012 Karen Gravano with Lisa Pulitzer (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Loved this book!!

I have always been fascinated by Organized Crime and the Cosa Nostra. I have watched every documentary and listened to every podcast. Karen Gravano’s book was put together wonderfully and was easy to follow. It helped tie up some of the details and events that Sammy, the Bull has covered in his podcast/YouTube channel. Loved it!!

More of a Sammy "The Bull" biography

What did you love best about Mob Daughter?

I loved the way she wrote about her father/daughter relationship with Sammy. The love and respect they have towards each other is amazing.

What didn’t you like about Karen Gravano’s performance?

She had no emotion in her voice throughout the story and she seemed to stumble on her words.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Even though Sammy did a lot of horrible things, I still felt sympathy for him. I know that seems strange but maybe it's because the story is obviously bias. If there was a story from a victim's family perspective, I probably would hate him.

Any additional comments?

Do I feel like I wasted a credit? No. The majority of the book is about Sammy. He is a very interesting person to read about, only I wish Karen would have shared more of her own personal experiences. Whenever she did they came off as afterthoughts.

The middle of the book is almost a repeat of the first half, but the pace picks up towards the end.

I LOVED IT!!!

Hey Karen, I'm glad you read your own book! I would love for you to write another book.

AMAZING Karen

I love her narration and the story. To see her life from her eyes using her words makes you feel like you know her. I do not like to read about people in magazines because it's never true. Seeing her on her show always made me want to know her more and this book was the perfect opportunity. I love her strength and morals. This was an amazing listen and i could not put the phone down.

worth reading

I loved it, I my self can relate in so many ways, it was so worth reading this book

Great Read

I love this book it was a dynamic read. I love how Karen spoke her truth in a positive manner...

Perfection!!!!

Karen make no excuses for her father or her illegal activity. I really respect her family and her father. I don't agree with murder, but everyone seems to forget that he killed no one who wasn't in "the life"! The men who died killed or would kill if ordered to do so!! They are guilty
no victims in the mob!

I really enjoyed this

I found that Karen had alot more substance than I would have imagined. This is a very interesting peek into a life I cannot imagine. I liked her voice it was an easy listen.

Amazing!

Where does Mob Daughter rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

5

What other book might you compare Mob Daughter to and why?

I can't remember the book, it's in my library but it's the story of a mafia's wife. loved that book too.

What about Karen Gravano’s performance did you like?

Her honesty throughout the book, expressing the pain she felt when her dad went to prison the second time and still there. I feel for her brother and most of all, for her innocent mother.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, that part when her father went to prison the second time and she feels guilty about it. The whole book is amazing and moving.

Any additional comments?

Overall, i felt sad seeing how she had to endure, experience and live that life. I know it made her stronger and she's out of it, but going through it was totally hard! She is in my prayers and would love to get to know her someday. She is an amazing daughter, mother, sister and human being.

Interesting story but she is a terrible narrator!!

While I don't doubt the validity of the story itself, I don't think Karen wrote it at all. the narration sounds like she is reading it for the first time. Her style of reading is choppy and detracts from the flow of the story. It is clear she is not reading using punctuation with odd pauses where there aren't periods and breathless periods of would-be run ons. The story is interesting but I wish I had skipped this one in audio format and just read the book. Usually I find autobiographies better when the writer reads them aloud, but that is certainly not the case with this one.