Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob

Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob PDF Author: Russell Shorto
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393245594
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2021 Family secrets emerge as a best-selling author dives into the history of the mob in small-town America. Best-selling author Russell Shorto, praised for his incisive works of narrative history, never thought to write about his own past. He grew up knowing his grandfather and namesake was a small-town mob boss but maintained an unspoken family vow of silence. Then an elderly relative prodded: You’re a writer—what are you gonna do about the story? Smalltime is a mob story straight out of central casting—but with a difference, for the small-town mob, which stretched from Schenectady to Fresno, is a mostly unknown world. The location is the brawny postwar factory town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The setting is City Cigar, a storefront next to City Hall, behind which Russ and his brother-in-law, “Little Joe,” operate a gambling empire and effectively run the town. Smalltime is a riveting American immigrant story that travels back to Risorgimento Sicily, to the ancient, dusty, hill-town home of Antonino Sciotto, the author’s great-grandfather, who leaves his wife and children in grinding poverty for a new life—and wife—in a Pennsylvania mining town. It’s a tale of Italian Americans living in squalor and prejudice, and of the rise of Russ, who, like thousands of other young men, created a copy of the American establishment that excluded him. Smalltime draws an intimate portrait of a mobster and his wife, sudden riches, and the toll a lawless life takes on one family. But Smalltime is something more. The author enlists his ailing father—Tony, the mobster’s son—as his partner in the search for their troubled patriarch. As secrets are revealed and Tony’s health deteriorates, the book become an urgent and intimate exploration of three generations of the American immigrant experience. Moving, wryly funny, and richly detailed, Smalltime is an irresistible memoir by a masterful writer of historical narrative.

Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob

Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob PDF Author: Russell Shorto
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393245594
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2021 Family secrets emerge as a best-selling author dives into the history of the mob in small-town America. Best-selling author Russell Shorto, praised for his incisive works of narrative history, never thought to write about his own past. He grew up knowing his grandfather and namesake was a small-town mob boss but maintained an unspoken family vow of silence. Then an elderly relative prodded: You’re a writer—what are you gonna do about the story? Smalltime is a mob story straight out of central casting—but with a difference, for the small-town mob, which stretched from Schenectady to Fresno, is a mostly unknown world. The location is the brawny postwar factory town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The setting is City Cigar, a storefront next to City Hall, behind which Russ and his brother-in-law, “Little Joe,” operate a gambling empire and effectively run the town. Smalltime is a riveting American immigrant story that travels back to Risorgimento Sicily, to the ancient, dusty, hill-town home of Antonino Sciotto, the author’s great-grandfather, who leaves his wife and children in grinding poverty for a new life—and wife—in a Pennsylvania mining town. It’s a tale of Italian Americans living in squalor and prejudice, and of the rise of Russ, who, like thousands of other young men, created a copy of the American establishment that excluded him. Smalltime draws an intimate portrait of a mobster and his wife, sudden riches, and the toll a lawless life takes on one family. But Smalltime is something more. The author enlists his ailing father—Tony, the mobster’s son—as his partner in the search for their troubled patriarch. As secrets are revealed and Tony’s health deteriorates, the book become an urgent and intimate exploration of three generations of the American immigrant experience. Moving, wryly funny, and richly detailed, Smalltime is an irresistible memoir by a masterful writer of historical narrative.

HumanKind

HumanKind PDF Author: Brad Aronson
Publisher: LifeTree Media
ISBN: 1928055648
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
This Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller is filled with true stories about how one small deed can make a world of difference. “Elegant and wise” (Deepak Chopra). “The most uplifting and life-affirming book in years” (Forbes). “This might be the most beautiful book I’ve ever read. It’s lifted my soul and brought me to tears in all the right ways.”—Jane Green, author of 18 New York Times bestsellers Named best inspirational book of the year by the Independent Book Publishers Association and chosen as an International Book Awards winner, HumanKind is the heartwarming, feel-good book we all need right now. These inspiring stories will open your heart and rekindle your faith in humanity. You’ll meet the mentor who changed a child’s life with a single lesson in shoe-tying and see the far-reaching ripple effects of that seemingly small deed. You’ll also meet the six-year-old who launched a global kindness movement; the band of seamstress grandmothers who patch clothes and mend hearts for homeless people; the puppy, given as a gift, that touched the lives of thousands of children; and many other heroes. There are also practical tips for making a difference with your own words and deeds, and the resource section lists organizations where you can channel your efforts to create your own ripples of kindness. HumanKind is a great gift to yourself and anyone who’s been a source of kindness in your life. It will leave you grateful for what you have, provide a refuge from the negativity that surrounds us, and remind you of what really matters. All author royalties are donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Time

Time PDF Author: Eva Hoffman
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 184765259X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Time has always been the great Given, a fact of existence which cannot be denied or wished away; but the character of lived time is changing dramatically. Medical advances extend our longevity, while digital devices compress time into ever briefer units. We can now exist in several time-zones simultaneously, but we suffer from endemic shortages of time. We are working longer hours and blurring the distinctions between labour and leisure. For many, in an inversion of the old adage, time has become more valuable than money. In this look at life's most ineffable element, spanning fields from biology and culture to psychoanalysis and neuroscience, Eva Hoffman asks: are we coming to the end of time as we know it?

A Not-So-Small-Time Town

A Not-So-Small-Time Town PDF Author: Viola Sawyer Lunderville
Publisher: Archway Publishing
ISBN: 1480800589
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Plainfield, New Hampshire, has been an extraordinary place since its beginnings. The serene river valley life offers natures very best and has beckoned many artists and intellectuals, including Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Maxfield Parrish, and J.D. Salinger. In her whimsical and touching Americana memoir, Viola Sawyer Lunderville reflects on her growing up years spent in the quaint New England town in the Connecticut River Valley where she explored, learned, and experienced a simple lifestyle full of freedom, memorable places, and special times. As she looks back on the years, Viola not only offers a unique look at Plainfields history from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, but also shares a glimpse into all the reasons why the beautiful landscape beckoned many to settle on this picturesque land, including the famous and wealthy. Using detailed personal anecdotes, Viola brings to life historic places in this glorious river valley through real-life experiences that she and others have shared. As well, she reveals through the eyes of her youth, adventurous days spent enjoying local swimming holes and freely exploring the vast countryside. A Not-So-Small-Time Town takes a nostalgic, sentimental ride through a New England town filled with historical significance and many wonderful memories from a simpler time.

Small Time Operator

Small Time Operator PDF Author: Bernard B. Kamoroff
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1589796640
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Be a success on your own terms with what Library Journal has called "The best of the genre," and "A remarkable step-by-step manual." Thoroughly updated to reflect recent changes in tax law and other government regulations, the book covers acquiring permits and licenses; creating a business plan; buying a franchise; dealing with the IRS; and handling insurance, contracts, pricing, trademarks, and more.

Small Time

Small Time PDF Author: Justin Bryant
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781909125315
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
In 1988, 23-year-old American goalkeeper Justin Bryant thought a glorious career in professional football awaited him. He had just saved two penalties for his American club - the Orlando Lions - against Scotland's Dunfermline Athletic, to help claim the first piece of silverware in their history. He was young, strong, healthy, and confident. But professional football, he found, is rarely easy. Small Time is the story of a life spent mostly in the backwaters of the game. As Justin negotiated the Non-League pitches of the Vauxhall-Opel League, and the many failed professional leagues of the U.S. in the 1980s and 90s, he struggled not only with his game, but his physical and mental health. Battling stress, social anxiety, a mysterious stomach ailment, and simple bad luck, he nonetheless experienced fleeting moments of triumph that no amount of money can buy. Football, he learned, is 95% blood, sweat, and tears; but if you love it enough, the other 5% makes up for it.

Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity

Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity PDF Author: Magdalena Naum
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461462029
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
​ ​In Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity: Small Time Agents in a Global Arena, archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians present case studies that focus on the scope and impact of Scandinavian colonial expansion in the North, Africa, Asia and America as well as within Scandinavia itsself. They discuss early modern thinking and theories made valid and developed in early modern Scandinavia that justified and propagated participation in colonial expansion. The volume demonstrates a broad and comprehensive spectrum of archaeological, anthropological and historical research, which engages with a variation of themes relevant for the understanding of Danish and Swedish colonial history from the early 17th century until today. The aim is to add to the on-going global debates on the context of the rise of the modern society and to revitalize the field of early modern studies in Scandinavia, where methodological nationalism still determines many archaeological and historical studies. Through their theoretical commitment, critical outlook and application of postcolonial theories the contributors to this book shed a new light on the processes of establishing and maintaining colonial rule, hybridization and creolization in the sphere of material culture, politics of resistance, and responses to the colonial claims. This volume is a fantastic resource for graduate students and researchers in historical archaeology, Scandinavia, early modern history and anthropology of colonialism

The First 20 Hours

The First 20 Hours PDF Author: Josh Kaufman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101623047
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.

Summary of Russell Shorto's Smalltime

Summary of Russell Shorto's Smalltime PDF Author: Everest Media,
Publisher: Everest Media LLC
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I was home for the holidays one night when someone brought up the subject of Frankie Filia, my mother’s cousin who had come home to visit. He was a jazz singer who had left town a lifetime ago for Las Vegas, but he had recently decided to retire and come home. #2 I knew my grandfather was a mobster, but I didn’t know the details. I didn’t want to learn more, and I never did. I was afraid of what those details might reveal about my family. #3 I can't do this. I know that at the center of this story is my grandfather, a dimly lit figure who had a different life outside of my grandmother's house. I know that the research would lead me to the source of her pain. #4 I was named after my grandfather, who died of a heart attack at the age of 57. I didn’t think about him for a year or so after that night at the club, until I saw his name on the back of a membership card.

A Small Time in Space

A Small Time in Space PDF Author: Edmund C. Schimek
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1468543067
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description
My story is about as a boy living in the Great Depression of 1928 after the death of my father my mother was left to raise us. At the age of sixteen my mother bought an old farm house in Northwest Sullivan County, a mile from our nearest neighbor or electric, no phone and no running water. Had to heat the house with two wood stoves. It was a struggle for five years it was good.