The Quiet Don

The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino

By: Matt Birkbeck

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

To what extent was Rosario “Russell” Bufalino involved in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975? In the CIA’s recruitment of gangsters to assassinate Fidel Castro? In organizing the historic meeting of crime chieftains in 1957? Even in the production of The Godfather movie.

Secretive - even reclusive - Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.

A uniquely American saga that spans six decades, The Quiet Don follows Russell Bufalino’s remarkably quiet ascent from Sicilian immigrant to mob soldier to a man described by a United States Senate subcommittee in 1964 as “one of the most ruthless and powerful leaders of the Mafia in the United States.”

©2013 Matt Birkbeck (P)2014 Tantor

great book

very well written and very well spoken...great book about one of the last old school mafia dons

Totally Unprofessional Quality

Pretty clear that there was absolutely no effort put into the reading of this story. Nearly every name is mispronounced, words are misused, inflection errors, etc. It's a shame because the story is great, and the author truly is an expert in this story, and the area in which Russell had power.

information

i loved it it kept my attention i learned a bunch of information on Bufalino and his Family that i had never heard before

Less about Bufalino, more about Denaples

This was an incredibly informative piece, but it reads more as a collection of articles than as a biography of Bufalino. I felt like I know more about Louis Denaples and modern corruption in PA than I do about Russell Bufalino.
That's obviously still interesting, but not what the book is billed as.
The fact that the Author has since been sued for making up quotes from a major source of information on Denaples also makes me wonder if that was the real reason for writing this piece.

great book nicely read too.

it was a great book , its not often i find one I would share. super cool stuff to add to stories i have been hearing since i was a kid.