The Gangster's Cousin

Book excerpt: The autobiography of a member of Charles “Lucky” Luciano’s Mafia family. “The reader gets a real sense of code, of honor, courage and commitment” (London TV). “I was born an outlaw in outlaw culture. I refused to be forced into the powerless class of the ordinary, law-abiding citizen. I always saw things from outside the box because I was born outside the box, so I was free to think for myself.” Born in 1942, Salvatore “Sal” Lucania was not only raised but educated by the streets of East Harlem. Dropping out of his Catholic high school at fifteen after punching out a priest, a formal education was not Sal’s future. As such, it would have been easy to fall into the trappings of “made man” status in the mafia, like his cousin Charles “Lucky” Luciano. But Sal had a different vision of the future, if he could just escape the confines of his neighborhood and defy the ways of the people in power: the bullies, the “ruling class,” local government corruption and his own mafia family culture—in order to create a different life than the one fate might have otherwise intended. The Gangster’s Cousin is a wonderfully different take on the usual Mafia story. Sal’s memoir takes the reader on a sometimes exciting, sometimes poignant, and often humorous adventure as he finds himself in unbelievable situations and meeting an array of unique and funny characters along the way. Follow Sal’s one-of-a-kind perspective and find out why he strives so hard to stay ahead of a different type of criminal class—the people who make the rules.