Bound by Honor: A Mafioso's Story

by Bill Bonanno

A young mafioso being groomed for leadership spends his nights at the Stork Club in New York City, rubbing elbows with the likes of Tony Bennett, Marilyn Monroe, and Mickey Mantle...Two proud men, one named Bonanno, the other named Kennedy, dream of their sons taking over their dynasties-each taking a different, but equally powerful pat...A sudden spray of bullets rips through the salon in Manhattan's Park Sheraton Hotel; moments later, a major figure on the organized crime scene-slumped over in midshave-lies dead in his barber chair...

These are stories not from Mafia movies, but from real life...a way of life which may be gone, but is long from forgotten. Bill Bonanno is the authentic article-born into a powerful mob Family and married into another, he has seen it all. Widely reputed to be the model for Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Bonanno tells the astounding story which only he can tell in Bound By of the Five Families and their stormy infighting for control over organized crime; of his father's close friendship with Joe Kennedy and the truth about JFK's assassination; and of a world born of respect and loyalty...and etched in violence and blood.

Genres: True Crime, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Crime, Memoir, Politics

326 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Salvatore Vincent "Bill" Bonanno was an American mobster who served as consigliere of the Bonanno crime family, and son of crime boss Joseph Bonanno. Later in life, he became a writer and produced films for television about his family

Reviews

[Lamadia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was hard to get through because Bill Bonanno is a complete blowhard who seems to believe that he is the most honorable and wonderful person to have ever graced the earth besides his father. The book is full of self-aggrandizing anecdotes that claim how honorable the traditional mafia was and how his family were the most important and traditional of them all. He simultaneously claims that he and his family were hardly violent at all as well as being badasses that should be feared and respected. Any time that he mentions his wife, it's with derision as if she was simply in the way, which makes me wonder why the hell she's still with him. It's full of contradictions and high claims about the "truth" of the Kennedy assassination and other important events. In the end of the last chapter before the epilogue, he goes on about how an old member of the organization had become loose-lipped and told him all this stuff in prison. He uses this as an example of the way things had changed for the worse and blames this man's later murder on his idiocy of telling the stories. These are the same stories and tell-all nature that Bill Bonanno just related to us through his book. To end on such an obvious hypocrisy seems appropriate for the entire book that was full of it.

[Beth F · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author of this book passed away around the same time I picked this book up at the library. He was the son of Joseph Bonnano, who was the leader of the Bonnano Family during the Mafia’s high point in the US (in the 1950’s). This book wasn’t as good as I’d been hoping. It started strong with the claim that the author knew who killed JFK and why and that Lee Harvey Oswald had been a patsy. I felt like the author wrote it from a perspective where he knows you don’t really know what he’s talking about because he is "Family" and you aren’t so therefore you aren’t even capable of understanding where he’s coming from but he’s going to write this book anyway. It lost my interest after 75 pages but I kept reading it because I wanted to count it for work. By the time he got to the end and revealed what he knew about Kennedy’s murder, I didn’t even care anymore.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besides being an inside report of life as a mafioso, this book has three big, interrelated themes: The Banana Wars among the American mafia, the decline of the American mafia, and the assassination of JFK. The interrelation is that they were in a mesh of reinforcing causes. The actual details of the War seem distracting minutiae: The stabilizing role of The Commission, once eroded led to internal violence and violence leaking out, eventually effectively destroying the institution. Part of this reminds me of a book a read looking at some L.A. street gangs - when run "well", violence was kept internal. Here, the eroding of the Mafia (in this few) from external causes (RFK, where he sees a mob conspiracy around Thane Eugene Cesar and an unleased FBI (author claims to have seen and identify the source of the JEH in drag pics that kept him in line) and eventually the presidential assassination from an untethered Traficante etc. mixed with miffed anti-Castro forces all from a talkative sewer darin shooter Johnny Roselli.

[Ilya Puchkousky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Мафиози оказались "зайками". Еще одно подтверждение, что правда у каждого своя.

[Zev · Rating 3 out of 5]

To now know the secrets behind the JFK assassination as well as Jimmy Hoffa's abduction, among other inner working of the mafia's day to day activities, is a treat to say the least. Bill Bonnano and his Family live by a code few of us will ever begin to understand. With Bill's excellent recall of events during his time near the head of the mafia table, he takes us into his world of politics, power and restraint; a world bound by honor.

[Barbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed ready nag about the traditions from the old country and what the Mafia was like in the beginning. The information on the government and how it worked with the mafia was also pretty cool.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told in his own words is the story of old world tradition, and honor in a chaotic, violent, and human world of the Bonanno Crime family. Bill, the son of Joe Bonanno reveals a history often overlooked due to the Hollywood versions of the Mafia. His world is steeped in political corruption at the highest levels of local and national government. A world beginning in the 13th century in Sicily, which brought the ways of the secret society onto the shores of North America, and eventually spread around the globe.

[Kyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was collectively written by every rambling uncle at a family reunion who once worked with some important and dangerous people and really misses the good ole days when strong morals guided decision making which is why the mafia helped the US shuffle drugs around central america but I also knew who really killed JFK but once again you don't normally hear this I was pretty important in the mafia so I memorized thirty different routes between each of my five safehouses while my dad was kidnapped which was tough on my wife who left but then came back but then the fbi firebombed my house even though we've always hated drugs

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like a story where a man tells you how great he and his family are, then this is the book for you. Not sure how much is true though. Meh!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the unique perspective and experiences of the author. He did a nice job telling his story.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Aunt is a Bonanno...

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to read , how much is true? Who knows!

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit long in the tooth. Good over all story but too many nonsensical details that left me twiddling my thumbs.

[Satyajit shetty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice paced and simple narration through out. Pleasant read.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book because Man of Honor by Joseph Bonanno wasn't available at the local library. This is by Joe's son William Salvatore Bonanno, who was the consigliore of the family but never ran it. He died in 2008, and his wife Rosalie also wrote a book about the family (or rather, someone wrote it for her, based on her narrative).


I knew I'd be in for some fiction, or at least a very carefully edited story of a life, and I wasn't disappointed. Bonnano admits to fighting back when attacked by unscrupulous mob rivals, but never actually hurting or killing anyone. The most he'll admit to the family business being involved in was gambling and some vague things involving the NYC garment district, politics, and labor unions.

In fact, if you read this book, you're left with the opinion that they were just great guys who worked behind the scenes, helping each other out until the nasty feds ruined it all. It feels like the word "honor" shows up more times in this book than the word "the." Joseph Bonanno is presented as a peacemaker and honorable man of his word cruelly abused by rivals and people who forgot the traditions they were raised upon.

Its an entertaining enough story, and you feel some of his sadness at watching his old world fall to pieces as the mob is systematically demolished by the federal government and Guiliani team in NYC. He also seems to genuinely regret how he treated his wife and family, and that's the realest part of the book.

But too often the book veers into absurdity, such as his wild inventions about the Kennedy assassination(s), his father's kidnapping, the interfamily conflicts, and most of all their criminal activity. It is worth noting that all the crime, murders and actions depicted (accurately) in Goodfellas were in the Bonanno family - Paulie being a mid level made man and soldier.

The book is fairly interesting but so tangled and mixed with fiction and invention its not very useful in any way beyond a very broad sketch for history or understanding the mob at any level.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is was written by Joseph Bonanno’s son Bill. Really, I believe his wife wrote with some help. The Bonanno family is one of the original five families. You get a look back from where they came from in Sicily with his father Joseph being born there and coming over when he was older. They actually still had ties to family in Sicily. The story goes through the rise of the family and then to what they call the Banana Wars. I thought, for the most part, the first part of the book was good and I had read most of the same things from other books. When you start getting into Kennedy and Hoffa, this is where it becomes different for me. Different families want to take credit for each or both. Either Chicago, helping Kennedy get elected or New York, what it really sounded like was the teamsters were the ones and they were being controlled by the families all over at the time. Then you have Louisiana also saying they had a hand in it also who knows. As far as Hoffa he messed with the wrong people regardless of which family it was and still no one knows where the body is. Other than that, I found this book to be good. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Steven Scaffardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps a better name for this book should be Boast By Honor. After all, this books boasts that it's 'The fascinating true story of the powerful crime family that inspired the The Godfather.' It also boasts of Mafia ties to the likes of JFK and the Hollywood elite. And Bill Bonanno does plenty of boasting about his own credentials within one of the most powerful crime organisations in American history.

Bound By Honor isn't a bad book, and it's first-hand account of an era that gave their names to New York's Five Families (Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Colombo) is certainly unique. But... having read a number of books on the subject, I can't help but think that old Bill does half try and pour on a large dose of that 'Romanticizing the Mob' cocktail! Honour, tradition, taking care of our own, etc etc.

To read the rest of this review, please visit:
http://stevenscaffardi.blogspot.co.uk...

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Bonanno was born into the mob. His father was Joseph Bonanno, leader of the Bonanno Crime Family. Bill followed in his father's footsteps as a leader in the family and also as a writer of a memoir. He seems pretty candid about his life and his life in organized crime, though I am doubtful some of the things he said are the entire truth. However, it was an interesting personal account of life inside the semi secretive organized crime syndicate.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I could rate this book lower. Typical story - spoiled son of an "important" man who thinks he's important. Poor Bill is too dense to realize this. The thought that Mario Puzo considered him a model for the Michael Corleone character is laughable. This book was so boring I put it down the first time; its amazing I was able to finish it.

[Nicole C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Autobiography of one of the members of the Bonanno clan

[Misty · Rating 3 out of 5]

unreliable narrator, but very interesting all the same.

[B. Echols]

Donated by: B. Echols
J. Montgomery (5/5 stars) Spring 2018

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