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Brian Roland
reviewed The Deeds of My Fathers: How My Grandfather and Father Built New York and Created the Tabloid World of Today on May 05, 2014
The Deeds of My Fathers: How My Grandfather and Father Built New York and Created the Tabloid World of Today
I became curious about this book when a crank on our local Patch cited it as evidence that his town was all corrupt and on the take because that's the tradition started by Generoso Pope, the concrete king of NY. The book is actually written by Generoso's grandson and traces the family history through 3 generations. The story goes from Generoso's Italian small-town roots to his monopolizing of the sand and concrete business in Greater NY, leading to his son's building of a media goliath with The National Enquirer and the author's own struggles with unearned wealth. Bankrolling it all and adding some muscle was the former king of organized crime, Frank Costello.
At first the writing seems clumsy, using flashback and a casual narrative, but by the third chapter the story becomes linear and the reader is completely engrossed. Any student of NY history and organized crime will find reason to chuckle at some of the re-created dialogue as passed down from father to son. Either a lot of naivete flows in the Pope family veins or some things were purposely not seen or heard. The book is not a complete whitewash, however, and the author freely admits family fault in corruption and intimidation, always stopping short of murder.
I was expecting a self-published rag of a book, but it really is a well-researched and almost touching family history that adds another layer to our understanding of how money, power and connections can simultaneously corrupt a person while benefiting a community.
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