Made Men: The True Rise-and-Fall Story of a New Jersey Mob Family
Based on more than 1000 hours of secretly recorded  conversations, this book tells the story of New Jersey's  DeCavalcante crime family. Originally dismissed by the large New  York City crime organizations, the DeCavalcantes sought the  opportunity to move up in the crime world when their big-city counterparts began having legal troubles and when The Sopranos,  which recounts the life of a fictional Jersey mob family, became  such a hit on HBO. Unfortunately for the DeCavalcantes, they had  been infiltrated by an FBI informant. Although the show's  creator has denied it, much of The Sopranos is said to be based  on this real-life crime family, and DeCavalcante members were  even caught on federal wiretaps bragging about their similarity  to the TV mobsters. But while Daily News mob reporter Smith  draws many parallels between the DeCavalcantes and the fictional  Sopranos, the book does not quite live up to its potential. Much  of the writing seems disjointed and repetitious, and a few  superfluous anecdotes scattered throughout seem to have little  relevance to the rest of the story. Recommended with  reservations for large public libraries where there is a strong  interest in organized crime books.Sarah Jent, Univ. of  Louisville Lib., KYCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.