"I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa

by Charles Brandt

Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2008

About the author

Charles Peter Brandt was an American investigator, lawyer, writer, and speaker. He wrote the narrative non-fiction Frank Sheeran memoir I Heard You Paint Houses, the basis for the 2019 film The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci.

Reviews

[A. J. Fraties · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. As much as you’ll ever need to know about the Hoffa disappearance and the influence of organized crime. Very grim in parts so if you’re looking for an “upper” go elsewhere. Well-written with a nice “gimmick” that allows the author to inter-weave both his point of view and the subject’s own words. The afterwards give a lot more detail and explain a lot of the unexplained in the
Main body - primarily as they were written in subsequent years when some of the main players in the book had died. Overall I recommend it

[Matt Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a great story. The details of the union's activities and crimes committed along the way are fascinating, and the writing was well crafted and paced. The legitimacy of Frank's claims is the downside for me. Like so many conspiracies, there are always people who cast doubt, and in this case, the list grows with time. The book is an interesting read, none the less.

[JamesDolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is so much better than the movie. DeNiro sucked in the movie, and the de-aging process was a horror show.

Learning about a hitman for the mob who wasn't Italian was very interesting, although I think they overstated the influence of Bufalino as a Mob power broker.

The book is well worth a read for fans of Mafia lore.

[Kris Tharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this one a lot. I understand how some people can think that the chapters of union talk were tedious, but I think if you want to understand the gravity of how Jimmy's murder unravels and the significance of the people involved, you needed that context. Plus, as someone who is still relatively newer to non-fiction, I enjoyed how the dialogue in this made it read like a true novel.