The Good Rat

A True Story

By: Jimmy Breslin

Narrated by: Richard Davidson

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

Critic reviews

"[Breslin is] the city's steadiest and most accurate chronicler." (The Village Voice)

great story

The actual mob guy tells a better story than the narrator. still a good book even for a snitch.

not bad!

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.

story meanders

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.

interesting mafia stories.

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

Great Selection

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