Quitting the Mob: How the "Yuppie Don" Left the Mafia and Lived to Tell His Story

by Michael Franzese, Dary Matera

A former member of the Colombo crime family describes life in the Mafia and his deal with the government that allowed him openly to leave the Mafia

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Crime, True Crime

301 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1991

About the author

Michael Franzese (born May 27, 1951) is an American former New York mobster and caporegime of the Colombo crime family, and son of former underboss John Franzese. Franzese was enrolled in a pre-med program at Hofstra University, but dropped out to make money for his family after his father was sentenced to 50 years in prison for bank robbery in 1967. He eventually helped implement a scheme to defraud the federal government out of gasoline taxes in the early 1980s.

By the age of 35, in 1986, Fortune Magazine listed Franzese as number 18 on its list of the "Fifty Most Wealthy and Powerful Mafia Bosses". Franzese had claimed that at the height of his career, he was making up to $8 million per week. In 1986, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on conspiracy charges, released in 1989, rearrested in 1991 for a parole violation, and ultimately released in 1994. Soon after, he retired to California and is now a motivational speaker and writer.

Reviews

[Kristal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5 stars?

I’ve been enjoying listening to Michael Franzese on his new YouTube channel; I wanted to read this book because it was before he did motivational speaking and wanted to see his perspective before “polishing” it up (Not to say I don’t believe his stories: I just wanted to go back to an early source for comparison).

This book goes into other scams he was apart of other than the gasoline tax scam; it also talks a lot about his relationships with Cammy, other family members, and God which I liked. However, as others have mentioned, he doesn’t actually give a lot of details regarding the mob structure nor a lot of info about the top bosses. My guess is that was done intentionally as to not get him in trouble/assassinated by someone in the mafia; the details about other people Franzese shared were probably available in other sources or were benign enough to not provoke the mob.

Interesting book, but if an individual wants to learn more about the inner workings of the mob you may have to look for a different author. If you want to learn about Michael, this is an interesting personal story.

[Jason Twombly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting read that I couldn't put down. Michael Franzese quit the mob. Nobody does that. Nobody does that and lives. Michael, prince of the mafia, is bound by a blood oath of loyalty to the family (Colombo crime family). Revealing the modus operandi of large-scale white collar crime buttressed by the Machiavellian ethic that the end justifies the means, Michael introduces you to Gotti and the gang, and it's always, "Show me the money no matter what or fugghedaboutit!"

Michael leaves the family and the life, turns himself in and does his time in prison. Longing to be rid of the crooked hearted soul emblazoned upon his every thought and move, he responds to the call of The Prince, The Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Michael renounces his blood covenant that married him to La Cosa Nostra (This is our thing in Italian) and enters the Church of Christ by baptism in water. His sins, even though they were as scarlet are now as white as snow.

A book I'd recommend highly. I particularly enjoyed the geographical tour of Michael's odyssey because I'm from New Yawk!

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

A recounting of his time in the "mob" by some lowlife, wannabe so called ex-gangster. The funniest part of this book is that it is called "Quitting the Mob" but this guy denies he was involved in all the crimes for which he's been arrested and imprisoned. I only read this book because it was given to me. I'm sure most of it was fabricated. I thought there was only one way to leave the mafia; I guess not. This cheeseball now gives motivational speeches on the evils of gambling.

[Mandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book- an easy read and interesting enough to keep me engaged the whole way through. I've watched some of Michael's YouTube channel so I wanted to get more info on his origin and how he came in and out of the mob. I really enjoyed the details he included about his time in the Colombo family and it was engaging to hear about the psychological aspect of everything- how he justified his actions to himself and those around him- and how he eventually got out.

I think this book might look different if he would write it again now. He seems to paint the picture that he only joined the mob to please his father. I think that was definitely a part of it, but there were likely other pressures. However, that makes a good narrative for a book, so I understand why that angle was stressed. He also goes out of his way to seem like he never committed anything other than 'white-collar' crimes- tax evasion, loan-sharking, etc. While I don't doubt this was much of his business, I can't fully believe that he was totally playing by the rules and never resorted to the violence that was so frequent within the mafia. I would imagine this is partially to avoid incriminating himself and partially to save face- you have to be a likeable protagonist to sell books. And later he goes on to describe how he left the life for the love of his second wife, Cammy. Again, I feel that may have been just a part of it, but I think that makes for a good book, right? It makes it seem a little cheesy, and I'm sure he wanted to be judicious in the details he shared as this was written very soon after he left so he was likely still in danger of jail time or murder. Probably still is, but less so now that its been 30+ years!

[Dom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huge mob/mafia historian. I love Michael and how he did business in the 70s and 80s. This book didn't do it for me. I know he has released more books which I have to read, but this was a disappointing dud. It started off great, learning about Sonny Franzese and learning about the history of their family, the mafia, and his father's connections. As is in life, everything was perfect until we get introduced to a woman, Cammy. Once we learn about Cammy, the whole tone shifts into a love story. For the second half of the book, we are pulled through Michael going to jail and to court and Cammy sitting crying by the phone. It was flat out boring. This book gave us a very very surface level look at Michael and his father in the mafia. I am hoping his later books go more into detail about his actual life instead of all the characters around him.

[NC_AvaF · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this book I couldn't put it down. Michael's life was shown in great detail and his love for Cammy made the book. I've read quite a few mafia books, and this one is by far my favorite one.

[Jasmin]

after 4 years and 2 days…. i am dnf’ing at 39% 🥳

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the few books on the Colombo Family. Franzese owed his role in the gang to his father who remains a top player in the mob. The writing is similar to Nicholas Pileggi; and one can picture him writing with the intention of selling it to a studio. He did fancy himself a director/producer for a while. Ultimately, there is not too much information about the Colombos in this book. It appears that Franzese was rather isolated from the mainstream organization. He barely spends three pages on the gasoline tax scam that brought him his money and financed organized crime in New York during the 1980s.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Quitting the Mob Michael Franzese tells his story with the help of Dary Matera.Of his love for his father who brought him into the family after seeing his son not being scared of going a little out side of the law to make money.How he was raised to the rank of capo in his mafia family making millions of dollars for his bosses.And left it all for the love of a woman.

[Jan Tucker]

Not read, almost done. Hit the wrong key. So far, very insightful work into the workings of La Cosa Nostra.