The Dark Heart of Hollywood: Glamour, Guns and Gambling - Inside the Mafia's Global Empire
Thompson, who has written about both the movies and organized crime, turns his attention here to the relationship between the Mob and Hollywood—and not just in the early years but right up to the present. In tone, the book resembles most closely one of Kurt Eisenwald’s lively, character-based business books: the story is as much about the people as what they did. And they did some pretty outrageous stuff, if Thompson is to be believed (and there appears to be no reason not to believe him, as the book is exhaustively researched and sourced). If you’ve always thought Hollywood careers were made through talent and hard work, you might be surprised at some of the revelations here, and even if you’ve always suspected some Hollywood folks had someone in their corner, operating behind the scenes, you might still be shocked at what you read here. Very informative and very entertaining. --David Pitt