Donnie Brasco

My Undercover Life in the Mafia

By: Joseph D. Pistone

Narrated by: Joseph D. Pistone

Posing as a jewel thief Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone worked undercover for six years to infiltrate the flamboyant and deadly community of Mafia wise guys, captains, and bosses. Now his eyewitness account brings to pulsing life the code of honor, loyalties, treacheries, and dirty dealings of unforgettable characters.©1987 Joseph D. Pistone with Richard Woodley (P)2009 Audio Holdings, LLC

Critic reviews

"So entertaining you have to remind yourself it's deadly serious." (Boston Globe)

"Compelling and gripping....Raw, hard-hitting non-fiction at its best....A revealing investigative work." (Toronto Star)

great listen

great story.
was interested in the story due to finding michael franzese in you tube. pistone narrates his own story excellently

Interesting story with real wiretap audio included

amazing story, but the narration was a little stilted. Joe would be giving quotes from a two-sided conversation but due to his somewhat monotone delivery, it could be hard at times to keep up. despite that, this includes quite a few audio clips from real wiretaps with Pistone (Donnie Brasco) and mobsters and it worth the listen.

Good story but the audio lol

Joe Pistone is one monotone guy. Lol
Like bro- you lived this- spice it up.

Interesting reporter style narrative

This was not a great literary work, but was strangely engaging. It’s narrated by the author in a stiffly read, factual tone. He recounts conversations and incidents from his time working undercover in the mafia. I enjoyed it.

Phenomenally SAD story...

An excellent book written and read by Joe Pistone A.K.A. Donnie Brasco. There are great recordings of phone calls between Donnie and various made men woven within the actual story. Its very sad to me to hear about the end of that amazing and traditional culture known as La Cosa Nostra.

After listening you’ll know why they trusted Pistone

Just listening to Joe Pistone you can see why the mafia believed him. He sounds like a wise guy. His reading of the text is strained, but it actually lends itself to his credibility. He wasn’t taken under Sonny Blacks wings because of his oratory skills but because he was an earner.

Great Audiobook

This is a great audiobook, my only complaint is that it's abridged, I would have much had a longer unabridged version. However, even abridged this is great as it's read by Pistone who does a good job but the thing that puts it over the top are the actual recordings that are weaved into the production. It's rare that any publisher puts any effort into non-fiction audiobooks so they deserve credit when they pull it off.

The book goes hand in hand with the movie and also points out how the movie plays loose with the facts. Growing up in the Tampa Bay area and seeing the movie, I had no idea that half of this book took place only a few minutes from where I grew up. I had no idea that all those bingo halls that were all over the place, normally in abandoned supermarkets were mob run. I only bring it up since in the movie everything outside of NY takes place in or around Miami, which isn't actually true most of the time.

Other things that make this great is when they're talking about flying to Florida to get a few hundred dollars -- it takes away from the whole glamorous angle of things when you realize the lower level guys are taking $39 flights to pick-up $250 at a time.

Anyways it's a great book, if you enjoyed the movie you'll enjoy the book.

Good cop, bad reader, great story!

Forgive his stiff reading, the guy is a hero! Well worth the price, happy to contribute to the cause.

the greatest story i have ever heard

wow! you have to hear this. beter than the movie. is there more ?.

Story was great, Pistones delivery not so much.

I know the writer is the narrator but it sounds like he’s reading from cue cards and not very well.
5 star story though!