When you think of a U.S. mafia rubout, what is the image you think of?

Thanks, Birdscribe, I'll look for the books. Didn't Giancana get his in some sort of hit, too? I think he lived in Oak Park or thereabouts, and his demise was (I believe) a model for the way James Caan whacked his mob boss in "Thief" (which featured former Chicago cop Dennis Farina . . . the tough guy actor who was just nabbed at an airport trying to get a handgun on board his flight).

 

Yes, Joe. In 1975, Giancana was shot in the basement of his Oak Park home while making a dinner of Italian sausage and peppers (it's frightening I know this).

It's widely believed he was shot because he refused to share profits of his offshore casinos and because of his high-profile and general demeanor.

The names of the books are "Roemer: Man Against the Mob" and "Accardo: The Genuine Godfather". He also wrote a book about Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, but it wasn't as good as the other two.

 

I stand corrected.

I know another one, at least according to "Burying the Black Sox" is that Attell actually went off to Canada for a while. In the movie they had him brushing up on Spanish. Burns was the one laying low in the backwoods of Texas/Mexico and had to be persuaded into coming to the trial (which the movie not the book) leads you to believe came shortly after the Series.

 

Well, they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night,
Yeah, they blew up his house, too.

http://americanmafia.com/Cities/Philadelphia.html

 

Sometimes I see the tourist bus for the Capone tours, and I wonder if in 50 years somebody is going to be running a bus highlighting the haunts of Chicago's most notorious street gang kingpins. Hey, tourist, wanna see where the Latin Kings used to hang out?

 

Gene Carney is the magic man. He's got endless energy for this stuff, and really fleshes out a lot of the common errors in "Eight Men Out" and everywhere else.

And please don't go by the movie if you really want to know what happened. John Sayles had a tight, tight budget, and he did a fantastic job for a sub-2 hour movie on a subject far too complicated to be condensed into a single viewing. But if you really want to learn more, read "Burying" or Pietrusza's "Rothstein" or any number of other great books.

The movie is great for what it is, but it's not supposed to be the be-all, end-all on the subject. And it wasn't trying to be.

 

Geraldo Rivera at Al Capone's vault. Apologies if I missed it earlier.

Wasn't Sam Giancana shot a couple of days before he was due to testify before Congress? Johnny Roselli went swimming in a 55 gallon drum during those hearings, didn't he? Do I have the time frame mixed up?

 

Nope, Roughie. You're dead-on nails.

Great piece of trivia, Breaker of Leopold and Loeb. Good, good stuff.

 

Buck's right, Carney's book is fantastic.

 

Anyone with info the the New Orleans mob? There HAS to be good stories there. Wasn't Huey Long mobbed up? what about other areas? I know Cleveland has a pretty active scene and didn't the KC mob help end mob control over Las Vegas casinos (via FBI wiretaps)?

 

New Orleans' epic, twisted character is part of its charm.

 

Correct.

My order of viewing/reading went Movie-Burying-EMO Book. Like you said, the movie is a good way to spend a couple of hours and to get a general idea, but don't take it as fact.

Have you read Red Legs and Black Sox ... written by Edd Roush's granddaughter from Cincinnati's perspective? I've been thinking of picking it up. It's supposed to give Roush's take on how Cincinnati would have won anyway.