Dec 04 2007
Bishopbriggs author’s new book puts spotlight on the Mafia
AUTHOR Joe Pieri’s latest book ‘The Octopus’ puts the spotlight on the Mafia and charts the rise of the rise of the organisation from its days as a way for Sicilian communities to help each other to its reincarnation as an infamous society of organised criminals.
Originally from Tuscany, for many years Joe lived in Lenzie before moving to Bishopbriggs.
His family had left Italy in search of work in the 1920s and opened the famous Savoy fish and chip restaurant in Glasgow.
Joe, now 88, said: “No one had heard of the Mafia back then, certainly not a fish frier from Glasgow.
“Originally it was a self-help organisation. Someone would do you a favour and you would owe them a favour in return.
“If you wanted a wee bit of help in Sicily, you didn’t go to the police or the government, you went to the Mafia.
“But the book is about how it developed into this powerful criminal organisation, particularly in the USA, where Sicilian Americans had a stranglehold on the crime scene.”
Joe added: “The Octopus is certainly not The Godfather or The Sopranos. It is the true story of the Mafia phenomenon and how, I think, no good has ever come of it.”
Bishopbriggs author’s new book puts spotlight on the Mafia - Last Updated: 04 December 2007 4:03 PM - http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/Bishopbriggs-authors-new-book-puts.3553904.jp
The Octopus
The Story of the Sicilian Mafia
by Joe Pieri
Edinburgh publisher Mercat is delighted to announce the publication of The Octopus: The Story of the Sicilian Mafia by Joe Pieri, 20th December 2007, £9.99 ISBN 978 1 84183 127 5 Paperback).
From its humble beginnings on the island of Sicily, the long arms of the Octopus – as the Sicilian Mafia is known - have reached around the world leaving a trail of blood and bodies. From settling local disputes to bootlegging, from drug trafficking to influencing the Catholic Church and modern Government, there is no level of society or area of crime the Octopus has not infiltrated. Acclaimed author Joe Pieri now recounts his own experience of the Octopus and reveals the personalities who have created this monster and who seek to destroy it.
Joe Pieri was born just outside Barga in Italy in 1919 and moved with his family to Glasgow. He is the author of several successful books, including Tales of the Savoy, Isle of the Displaced and The Big Men. Other books published by Mercat are The Scots-Italians: Recollections of an Immigrant, River of Memory and Wheel of Fortune, of which he was the co-author.
· The Octopus: The Story of the Sicilian Mafia by Joe Pieri
· Published 20th December by Birlinn Ltd
· £9.99 Paperback
· ISBN 978 1 84183 127 5
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