As a (as much as I dislike that locution, I find it necessary here) member of the Teamsters Union not in active service—I still have my withdrawal card almost 40 years later—with an ongoing interest in the history of corruption in the Brotherhood, this book connected a lot of diffuse dots for me. It’s very well-written and edited. I found it impossible to put down.

Not read! Netflix movie by Martin Scorsese

Charles Brandt spent a lot of time with Frank Sheehan (the Irishman), mob tough guy and union boss in the Teamsters union, as well as a close friend to Jimmy Hoffa (we all know who he was). and Russell Bufalino, Don of the Pittstone family, and one of the top five mob bosses in the Big Five consortium. Frank came from humble beginnings, and because he was always big, his muscle was always tested, first by his father, and then by the army and then by the mob as he was a main enforcer and he could be trusted to "take care of the thing", whatever "the thing" was. Frank enlisted in the army at the beginning of the war at the age of 17, and his main posting was in Sicily. He saw a lot of bad things, had to kill a lot of people, and saw some good friends die. Frank himself said that it was excellent training for a Mob enforcer. The book is written by Charles Brandt, who is a lawyer, and he usually worked with army medical cases in order to ensure they got a fair deal. That is how he met Frank Sheehan. Frank was suffering from crippling arthritis at the end of his mob career, and he had been in and out of prison a few times while he was doing Mob business. He was Jimmy Hoffa's right-hand man, and Jimmy was hand-in-glove with many mob bosses, so Frank worked for quite a few families Brandt does a great job of introducing his readers to big Frank Sheehan. The book reads like a fiction book, but everything in it is all true, corroborated by many other outside authorities and other mob guys who had been arrested. I could go on forever about this book and the people in its pages, but that would spoil the fun for new readers. I have to agree with one of my favourite television mob guys, Stevie Van Zandt, "This is one of the greatest Mafia books I've read, and I've read them all. It's so authentic." You will remember Stevie played Tony Soprano's consigliere, Silvio Dante, my most favourite "made man" in that series. If you love the Mafia folklore like I do, and if you would like to know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa, and President John F. Kennedyand why, read this book. You'll know the ins and outs of Mafia life in its hayday, the guys to be wary of, the rats, the bosses, the foot soldiers and the enforcers like you are part of the group. That's how realistic this book is! 5 bright, shiny stars for this one. ( )

Stunning confessions told as only the Mafia can. Tremendous insight into the reason and thought process behind every move they made. RIP Jimmy R. Hoffa. ( )

apparently a lot of the claims sheeran made (at least the most explosive ones) were probably false. still a good read and an excellent movie

I read this book years ago and just recently re read it. Still just as good the second time. ( )

This book was the basis for Martin Scorsese's movie of the same name, and perports to solve the mystery of what happened to Jimmy Hoffa as well as the assassination of John F. Kennedy. One man was responsible - Frank Sheerhan

The author spins a good gangster story as anyone who has seen Scorsese's movie can attest to. however, despite going into voluminous explanations for his claims, most of them have been debunked since the publication of the book.

My advice is to read the first half of the book which is a great mob story, and then ignore the last half where Brundt tries to convince you of his tale's authenticity. ( )

Quick impressions: Interesting book overall. Sheeran's life from post the Depression, WWII, and after into the 70s is very interesting. A lot was happening, and he describes it well. This edition is the movie-tie in, and it has a lot of extra material (almost 100 pages more than the original book), and a lot of that feels like filler. Brandt fills in gaps in the history in the main narrative, but the stuff after Sheeran's story ends just makes the book drag. Still, if you have seen the movie, or are planning to see it, you may consider reading the book.

(Full review on my blog later). ( )

This story is about a hit man named Frank Sheeran that worked for Jimmy Hoffa, and was apparently present when Jimmy Hoffa was murdered. Sheeran knew for years what had happened to Jimmy Hoffa, and kept quiet about it because he was supposed to protecting him instead of taking to be bumped off. The book is not well written as it is mostly transcripts of interviews, and then jumps back and forth between points of view with no warning. However, the Jimmy Hoffa tale is always interesting, and you have to respect for someone that lead the unions and did business with the Mafia at the same time. The book is currently being made into a film by Martin Scorsese, and has been retitled "The Irishman." ( )

I'm a sucker for mobster stories - especially ones that turn out to be true! When I saw a preview for the Netflix movie - The Irishman - I was hooked. I immediately went online to find out more about it and I discovered it was a book. So naturally I had to read the book. It did not disappoint! I learned more about Jimmy Hoffa, organized crime, the Teamsters, and Bobby Kennedy then I had in any other book. It was dark, fascinating, twisted and impossible to put down! Charles Brandt listened to Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran for the the final years of his life and got him to discuss his time working for the mafia and his involvement in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. This book was told orally to the author and the gaps were filled in with historical facts, anecdotes, and pictures. It was freaking awesome. Dense at times, but never boring; this mob tale is a definite winner! ( )

Biography of Jimmy Hoffa ( )

3.5***

Subtitle: Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran & the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, & the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa

Well, that pretty much covers it. Brandt, a former prosecutor, managed to get Frank Sheeran to tell the true story of what happened. This virtual death-bed confession is sometimes fascinating, but I could not reconcile the violent behavior of this man (and that of his “friends”). He may have made a full confession and gotten absolution from a priest, but to me Sheeran was a thug and sociopath who was making excuses for his behavior.

Still, the story of how Hoffa came to power and succumbed to his own ego is fascinating. ( )

Interesting, very plausible... seemed it could have been edited to be more clear and concise and shorter, it read as if it had been padded to make it longer. ( )

Frank Sheeran grew up a tough working class kid, learned how to kill in Italy during World War II and continued killing as a Teamsters Union official and frequent mob hit man. Along the way, he became an intimate of Jimmy Hoffa and many of the high ranking mobsters who had a hand in running the teamsters. Former prosecutor Charles Brandt spent several years interviewing Sheeran during the latter's final years. The result was this book, which is about two-thirds "as told to" memoirs, with the remaining third historical perspective about Jimmy Hoffa and his legal troubles (especially with Bobby Kennedy) written by Brandt.

"I Heard You Paint Houses" were, according to Sheeran, the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to him ("Painting houses" being a mob euphemism for killing). This book is horrifying, fascinating and extremely readable. Sheeran's testimony is very matter of fact and understated, and he doesn't waste any time pandering for sympathy. Whether this was Sheeran's own attitude or Brandt's editing is hard to tell. Along the way in this book, Sheeran lays out circumstantial evidence about the mob's involvement in the Bay of Pigs and the JFK assassination (and their reasons for both) as well as intimate details about Hoffa's murder and disappearance. If Sheeran is to be believed (and Brandt makes a pretty strong case that he is), all these mysteries were cleared up when this book was published in 2004. I haven't done an online search to see if there has been any sort of refutation of this testimony, however.

At any rate, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading an "inside baseball" account of organized crime and the mob's influence on unions in general and the Jimmy Hoffa case in particular. The key to the book's success, as I mentioned earlier, is that it's really quite readable and, despite the subject matter, enjoyable. ( )

Really liked it - interesting read - awesome pictures! ( )

A few years ago a friend from the States visited me and told me an incredible story about his father meeting Tony “Pro” Provenzano, a Genovese capo and then international vice president of the (Brotherhood of) Teamsters, the big blue collar labor union. Tony Pro had asked him to help him get some cargo out of the country to Canada without the proper paperwork. The cargo consisted of a few oil drums - just as speculation flooded the streets of what had happened to Jimmy Hoffa, who had disappeared mysteriously. One of the theories was - no surprise - that the body was shipped out of the country in empty oil drums.

Based on the dry and factual account of Frank Sheeran, trusted man of Jimmy Hoffa, it’s highly unlikely it happened that way, but you never know. In “I heard you paint houses“, a euphemisms for a professional hit man, Sheeran confesses he killed his boss, mentor and best friend, and he suspected that the body was taken to a mafia crematorium and “processed”.
Why did Sheeran kill his mentor and friend? Because he was his mentor and friend. No one in the mob trusts a stranger in his vicinity, so the hit had to be done by someone close to you. It also involved some kinky code of honor. you didn’t make a hit when family or kids were in the vicinity. No Pacino-esque “meet my little friend”, but “Hi” and the kill was done.

The book gives a unique insight in a world so utterly strange to the most of us it has become a world of weird fantasy and nonsensical speculation for most people. Sheeran does a fine job telling his own story, interrupted every now and then by Brandt for some background. No heroism, just business as usual. For the inattentive reader it could well be that you’re halfway the book and start to realize Sheeran is talking about killing dozens of people. No theater, no spectacle, just good old business pals taking care of business of a different kind.

The Hoffa kill is just a small part of the book describing the road Sheeran walked to become as casual killing people as he describes it to us. His youth and wartime experience were a big factor, but it’s also clear that Sheeran was drawn into the business to get away from a lousy existence as bad father and husband, drunk and dozens missed opportunities. It’s Russel Bufalino, the Pennsylvania boss, who discovers Sheeran, standing over 6 foot is a sturdy bodyguard and extremely loyal executive right hand. He remains his godfather till the very end.

Large parts of the book gives us insight in the shared hatred for the Kennedy family, especially Robert Kennedy. One of the reasons is not so much the fact that Bobby Kennedy tried to eradicate the mafia, but because his family broke the rules of the game. In the Mafia’s opinion father Kennedy had become rich due to illegal activities during the Probation, but now he betrayed the people who had made him rich by allowing his sons to go after them. There’s also a hint that Hoffa was responsible for the murder on JFK, but the evidence is hardly convincing. Sheeran also tells the story about transferring large sums of money to Attorney General John Mitchell to make Nixon pardon Hoffa. I wonder if that’s true, although Richard Nixon did pardon Hoffa.

As said before, Sheeran’s account is about “business as usual”. How “usual” was the “business”? The closing chapters containing the Hoffa hit gives us a view of how usual. Sheeran explains that a hit is no sloppy job. It’s always a detailed and pre-planned action with dozens of people involved who often don’t know each other. the same goes for the murder on Hoffa. Russel Bufalino calls Sheeran about Hoffa. No words are spilled, and nothing explicit is said. Sheeran knwos what he has to do, telling the story without a hint of drama. Bufalino drives Sheeran in his limo to an Ohio airstrip where a plane is waiting. When Sheeran gets on the plane, Bufalino dozes off. Upon returning Sheeran finds him still asleep. Waking up, Bufalino tells Sheeran, my Irish Friend, that he hoped Sheeran had a pleasant flight. On which Sheeran answers “And I hope you had a good sleep.” ( )

4.5 ( )