This book was sent to me by my good friend Killyn. We share a love for gangster movies, so Wise Guys was a perfect fit. The timing was especially interesting, since a good portion of the story actually takes place in prison — something I can definitely relate to these days.
The book follows Henry Hill, the real-life mobster whose story inspired the classic movie Goodfellas. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll find the book follows it almost exactly. In fact, I spent some time trying to spot differences and couldn’t find many — it’s that close to the movie. Honestly, if you haven’t seen Goodfellas, stop reading this and go watch it. Seriously.
What made the book stand out for me wasn’t the story itself (since I already knew it from the movie), but the style. It’s written kind of like a documentary, weaving in commentary from Henry Hill and even his wife Karen. That structure reminded me of shows like The Office, where you get those short, direct interviews that break up the main story. It worked really well, adding more personality and giving a deeper look at what everyone was thinking at the time.
It was extremely well-written and entertaining — even though I already knew what was going to happen, it held my attention like I was seeing it all for the first time. Reading it felt like playing back the movie scene by scene in my head. I usually like to read books before watching the movie version, but in this case, the two go hand in hand. Unfortunately, Goodfellas isn’t available on the prison tablets due to the violence and rating — it’s a hard R. But the book more than made up for that.
Thanks again, Killyn, for the recommendation and the entertainment. This one was a hit.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 stars)
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