Out of all of the resources I used for a 30 hour research project on the Mafia, Under the Clock stands alone. It is not only a good resource, but is one of the most informative and interesting books I've ever read as well. Besides telling about the Italian and Irish mobs, it also tells of the famous mobsters, their lives and day to day activites. From the origins of the Mafia in America to the recent past with John Gotti, every bit of this book is accurate and gripping. As for readability, this book is written in the style of The Hot Zone by Richard Preston: it is factual information, but reads like fiction because of the sensationalistic subject matter. For anyone interested in the Mafia or old Irish organized crime, this will be a fast read. You don't have to know anything about the mob, or any Italian; this book will grab your attention and hold it until the chilling conclusion. One final note: the language used by the mobsters is not of the most pleasant kind and is used in this book as a device to underscore the mentality and dealings of the Mafia. It is not overly gratuitous with its profanity, but it is not for the feint of heart either.

I enjoyed the book because it does not tell just about the Italian and Sicilian Mafia but also the Irish and Jewish Mafia. The book is very acurate in its facts. It is also keeps you interested if you are intrigued about how the mafia formed, what it was like in the early days, as well as how they operate. The book goes back to Don Giuseppe to Al Capone and Dutch Schultz to John Gotti.

Kitty Kelley must have never heard the old aphorism, "don't dish it out, if you can't take it" because this unauthorized biography caused her considerable well publicized consternation. Her response is certainly understandable because the referenced source materials certainly surpass the innuendo and outright sophistry of her books, and the charges against her are severe. From shoplifting to rampant dishonesty (that allegation should cause little surprise among those familiar with her work), to uninhibited sexual hi-jinks, Carpozi throws it all at Kelley, and it certainly is enjoyable watching him score so many bull's eyes. His most striking charge is the strong possibility that Kelley gave birth to an illegitimate child in her much younger days. While that may never be proven, there is no denying that she has given birth to a huge body of illegitimate literature that has disgraced her far more than it could ever hurt her intended targets.

Not much, I bet.

I enjoyed this biography more than most ("Legend" nearly made me suicidal, though) since it gives the hard and lowdown about one of the biggest trashers of modern times. It chronicles the life and career of Kitty Kelley-and a lot of things you'd expect to see in her half-fictional biographies.

Aside from chronicling her life, it also analyzes the various lies and half-truths that Kelley put in her biographies. Among the myths that were blown apart were suggestions about Nancy Reagan being pregnant out of wedlock and Frank Sinatra dumping a girlfriend.

I honestly don't know if the statements about her sex life and college robberies (yes, you read right-a bustier among other things) were true. But if she could cold-bloodedly make up such degrading statements about people she doesn't even know, then I imagine she could probably steal and half-kill her lover.

The one thing that could have made this much better was if there had been more speculation on why Kelley chose to trash people the way she did. Based on her past life? On her career? Did she get some vicarious kicks out of it? Was she jealous?

If you have ever been enraged by a KK biography, this book is a must-read.

At last, someone finally gave Kelley what she so richly deserves--a book revealing the inspiration behind the inaccurate foolishness of her books. She is taking out all of her anger at being the child of an alcoholic out on the rest of the world. She has no respect for people who, unlike herself, actually achieved something worthwhile in life. She sleeps around and behaves like trash in order to print trash. She takes delight in ruining the reputations of decent people, magnifies their faults (which we all have), and is altogether a ditzy, insufferable twit! Now she gets a taste of her own medicine. It's about time!

Once you get past the 20s the book dries up, until you get to the 80s and a section that must have been written by Guliani's p.r. firm. The writing is not good (how many times can the author say someone died of "lead poisoning?") and the editing matches the writing. If you are not from New York, and want to know anything about the Mafia from 1930-1985, than this book is not for you.

A great book for Mafia - Mob Buffs. The Docu-Drama style gives you the facts as well as the drama of the times. It gets a little tedious towards the end when the author rants about the accomplishments of the various prosecutors, etc. We all know that crime doesn't pay, and sooner or later, justice prevails.

the book under the clock is very interesting,and i can't help but wonder if the authors great grand -uncle stayed on as godfather,if one of the crime family of new york wasn't balsamo's.

I detest the conduct of Bill Clinton. I disliked some things about this book. Primarily, that the author threw a ton of stuff against the wall, to see how much of it would stick. In doing so, some does, and a lot doesn't. Therein lies the problem: making accusations which lack substantiation or a volume of compelling circumstantial evidence, helps rather than hinders the Clintons. The book relies too much on rumor and innuendo to truly succeed. I have gained much better information and enjoyment from the Slick Willie books, the Year of the Rat book, Dave Marrannis First In His Class, No Surprises, and even The Clinton Chronicles book. The book's redeeming value is that you will read some things you probably haven't before, and a few of them have credible facts and evidence. These are in the minority, however.

Earlier, I submitted a review of this book--In looking at your on-line excerpt, I noted another error. John Kennedy did not become President in 1962--he was elected in 1960 so took office in January, 1961. I am appalled at this man's lack of research.

I was only able to get to page 22 of this book because it had so many errors in it I determined that I could not trust the history.

Just as examples, the author states that Joe Kennedy had 4 boys and 3 girls--seven children. Since his children were-Joe, Jr., Jack, Bobby, Ted, Rosemary, Jean, Pat, Eunice, and Kathleen- it is easy to see that Joe Kennedy had nine children and I would think that anyone writing a history of World War II would know this. I would also think that anyone writing about this era would know that Harry Truman did not have a period after his middle initial, as "S" was his midde name--but this author did not.

I stopped reading when, on page 21, he stated that the UN released a "brief but eloquent statment on the mass slaughter of the Jews in 1942." On page 22 he states that the UN did not know what to do with Jewish refugees to it turned its back on them. Since the UN was not chartered until after World War II, I find these statements to be not credible.

He starts the book by stating that people do not know about the plunder of Jewish property by the Nazis--that it has been kept secret for lo these many years. Since I have been reading about it since the late 1950s and early 1960s, this is also a little hard to swallow.

I have protested to the publisher about the release of a book that puports to be history but is simply made up out of whole cloth.

I would not recommend this book unless you wish to read fiction.