Having seen the movie created this weird mental disconnect where even though I knew I was reading a memoir, it still felt kind of like a novel. There’s so much about Goodfellas that seems outrageous and over-the-top and made up, so it was almost weird to learn that Henry Hill was a real person, and that everything he describes in his memoir actually happened. Part of me wishes that I had read this book, which directly inspired Goodfellas, without having seen or even having any knowledge of the movie. Ever since the first day he walked into the Euclid Avenue Taxicab Company back in 1954, Henry had been fascinated by the world he had longed to join, and there was little he hadn’t learned and even less that he had forgotten.” He could have written the handbook on street-level mob operations. He was not a mob boss or even a noncommissioned officer in the mob, but he was an earner, the kind of sidewalk mechanic who knew something about everything. Attorney McDonald and the Strike Force prosecutors Henry Hill was a bonanza. See, I told you the movie and book review would sound the same. A thriller and absolute banger right to the very end. Much of the praise for the movie belongs to Pileggi like the film, Wiseguy is entertaining from start to finish. A lot of Ray Liotta’s, um, I mean Henry Hill’s classic one liners and pithy monologues are straight from the book.
What amazed me most is how closely the movie aligns with the book, because let’s be honest people, Hollywood screenwriters have butchered many a book. For all the books I’ve read where I saw the movie first I always end up hating the book. I always recommend reading the book first or the movie will mar the reading experience. It doesn’t matter if you’ve seen GoodFellas, you will enjoy the book nonetheless and that is A RARITY.
Scorsese- the greatest filmmaker of all time- masterfully brought it to life on screen (as only Scorsese could). It’s the only time in my reading experience where I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed the book after seeing the movie, and believe me, I’ve seen the movie countless times. This was a wonderful read in so many ways. The book is based on the life of former New York gangster turned FBI informant Henry Hill and the events that led to the change from the former to the latter. Though you probably couldn’t tell the difference.įor those of you who may not know (um, have you been living under a rock, and how did you find this book?!) “Wiseguy” by Nicholas Pileggi published in 1985 is the basis for Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic, “GoodFellas” (1990). So what I’ll do here is try my best to not turn this into a movie review. One more time for the people in the back: not only is GoodFellas my favorite film, I’m borderline obsessed. First things first, GoodFellas is my favorite movie.
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