The Good Rat (AudioGo)

Jimmy Breslin can sniff out a story like he can sniff out a rat. Here, he tells a lifetime of anecdotes in his inimitable New York voice, giving us a view through the keyhole of the people and places that define the Mafia -- characters like Sammy the Bull, the original snitch; and Gaspipe Casso, named for his weapon of choice; and hangouts like Pep McGuire's, the legendary watering hole where reporters and gangsters (all hailing from the same working class neighborhoods) rubbed elbows and traded stories. But best of all, Breslin captures the moments in which the Mafia was made and broken -- Breslin was there the night John Gotti celebrated his acquittal, having bribed his way to innocence. In The Good Rat, Breslin brings together the most recent, most memorable, and the long forgotten stories to create a sharp-eyed portrait of the mob as it lived and breathed, as it sounded and survived. Jimmy Breslin was born in Jamaica, Queens. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1986. His critically acclaimed books include The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?, The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Guiterrez, several anthologies, and a memoir. He lives on Broadway, the Big Street, in New York City. Trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Richard M. Davidson is well versed in theatre and has had a long standing career in acting, including a lead role in the show Diamonds, which aired on the CBS network, and a part in ESPN's The Hustle. Kaipo Schwab reads Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Henoch. Richard Mover reads Burton Kaplan.