Inherit the Mob

by Ze'ev Chafets

“[A] hilarious, warm look at one of organized crime’s oft-neglected ethnic groups.”—The New York Times Book Review William Gordon’s dear Uncle Max is dead. Dear, crooked, murderous, notorious Mafioso kingpin Uncle Max. But Pulitzer-winning foreign correspondent Gordon always knew Uncle Max to be generous. Now, even in death, Uncle Max comes through, for he leaves Gordon millions—in the form of a Mafia territory. The only catch is that Gordon, the cultured journalist, might have to fight to retain his piece of the mob. On the other hand, who wouldn’t fight for half a billion dollars? But can an educated Jewish reporter who regularly rubs shoulders with world leaders really succeed as a semi-don? Maybe—if he’s greedy enough, and not afraid to get his hands dirty or bloody. . . . Praise for Inherit the Mob “I can’t think of two professions that more richly deserve each other than journalism and organized crime. Zev Chafets does an honor to them both.”—Carl Hiaasen, author of Native Tongue “If you think there’s nothing funny about organized crime, pick up a copy of Inherit the Mob. Zev Chafets makes his fictional debut in this sidesplitting spoof of Mafia family matters, manners, and misadventures. . . . Chafets has perfect pitch for dialogue and an eye for vivid, unforgettable characters.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer “Lively entertainment.”—Chicago Tribune “A full-fledged romp bursting with energy, good humor, and plot curlicues aplenty.”—The Detroit News

Genres: Crime, Mystery

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 1991

Reviews

[Cynnamon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mediocre mobster mystery. Two middle-aged journalists get involved with the mob, get almost killed, but manage to get out of this alive. Supposed to be funny, but the humor is not really convincing.

Downgraded from 2.5 stars.
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In diesem Mafiakrimi geraten der mittelalte Journalist William Gordon und sein Reporterfreund John Flanagan mit der Mafia in näheren Kontakt, da Gordons Onkel, der ebenfalls ein Gangster war, gestorben ist und Gordon geschäftlich ein seine Fussstapfen treten soll. Der Roman ist wie eine Actionkomödie angelegt, ist aber leider dann doch nur mittelgut und mittelmäßig unterhaltsam gelungen.

Abgerundet von 2,5 Sternen.

[Walt · Rating 2 out of 5]

A second reading of this fictional work made me realize how bad this novel is. The plot is absurd. The characters are cartoonish. And the ending is really, really bad. The writing and dialogue are solid. There are some good scenes and dialogue; but the idea that two yuppie journalists would inherit the mob is...bad.

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist William Gordon knew about Uncle Max the gangster. When one of Max's associates reveals Max's will to William. It appears that Uncle Max left William his share of the underworld, including his partner Mafia boss Luigi Spadafore. Blinded by greed, William eagerly looks to claim his inheritance along with his journalist friend from Vietnam, John Flanagan, and his lesbian girlfriend Jupiter Evans. Hijinks ensue until people are killed.

Maybe this book was intended to be comical. There are some really absurd moments that could be funny. Flanagan especially tries to antagonize and humiliate the gangsters. His nonsense and cavalier approach to the entire escapade reeks of stupidity. Of course, Mafia gangsters of the 1980s did not act like Luigi, Sesti, and the rest of them. Cartoonish. The entire premise was farsical. And then, people started getting killed. William realizes they are in way over their head and tries to back out. But he is too late. The fun ended.

It was very hard to like anyone. Rooting for William was not like rooting for Frodo Baggins or Harry Potter. For one thing, William did nothing. Not one damn thing in the entire novel. Everything was handed to him including the profits from the mob. It was disgusting. The fact that he regularly slept with the alluring lesbian actress Jupiter Evans made the story even worse. He was no James Bond. He was more Ignatius P. Reilly. The rest of the cast were similarly unlikable. The bizarre relationship between Gordon and his dad was even more difficult to accept because only at the end did Dad try to help him by recruiting an army of octogenarian Jewish gangsters.

Then there is the climax. Jesus / Azlan / Jerry Schulman came to the rescue. He formulated a strategy and the other weirdos carried it out. It starts out promising. They write up news stories that libelously humiliate the Mafia. Then they create a riot at their headquarters by calling in a bogus pizza-eating contest. And just like that, peace is made, and the heroes inherit the mob. Oh my God how awful. Maybe it would have been funny, if not so many people had died. One person was even scalped. Good grief.

The writing and dialogue were good. I enjoyed the old Jewish gangsters kibitzing. It is Jewish humor at its finest with William Gordon being the only normal person in the room and everyone else is a lunatic (think Seinfeld). They were easy-going, fun, almost normal. But this novel is not Jerry Seinfeld meets John Gotti. This is the Simpsons version of Maggie meeting Big Fat Paulie from the Family Guy cartoon. The redeeming humor would have been better if there was not a violent streak to the story.

Overall, I do not recommend for anyone, unless you are studying Jewish humor. It has nothing for casual readers, historians, or mob buffs. This is no Godfather. Chavets lampoons everyone and everything while also adding a violent (and dirty - the book has a lot of sex) episodes. Aside from punking the Mafia with the pizza-eating contest, the book has little redeeming value. How the lead character walked away with the money, the girl, and the job is infuriating.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot and almost gave it four stars. The style is sparse, and the main attraction is the story, which is about a middle aged successful journalist who 'inherits' his deceased uncle's business, much of which involves illicit activities. Since the journalist, as well as his uncle and father, are of Jewish background, there's a lot of discussion about culture, as well as journalism and the changes that have occurred regarding both. I actually learned a little history that was mixed in with the fiction. I don't want to give away too much, but there is some blood spilled, though not too graphically and mostly in the background. There's a fair amount of tension and action, some delving into relationships and even a little sex. I'll definitely check out other works by Chafets.

Even though this is a novel, the topics are real in our world and since it involves both journalism and corruption, it's kind of relevant to read. I liked its effect on me.

[Laura Mtj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guter Zeitvertreib, liest sich leicht, nicht sehr geistreich. Die Geschichte ist sehr vorhersehbar, trotzdem unterhaltsam.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book itself was pretty well written, even though I had a hard time figuring out what year the story took place. I finally figured out it was sometime during the Reagan era but it took me a while. There aren't really a ton of hints other than people running down to use a payphone on the street.

As for the story, I thought it was just ok. I thought the protagonist didn't actually do that much. He wasn't the hero in his own story. First, the friend got him in a load of shit, and then the friend and someone else had to get him out. That's not very heroic on his part. I did enjoy when they had to bring in all the old men gangsters, but again, it was more of other people saving William while he slept on a cot in a back room.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really not my kind of book but I did manage to get to the end, so there's that. The story is told by different point of views which was really a save since the beginning main character was a letdown for me. He was just to bland and I kept thinking the whole time "grow a backbone and do something". I liked the character Flanagan better, he was more entertaining than Gordon, for sure. The main story is basically caused by Flanagan's Midlife Crisis and he also has a hand in fixing the problem at the end. Overall the book is a good read just not my cup of joe.

[Jason Landau · Rating 4 out of 5]

quick read about Grandson of famous jewish mafia leader who gets sucked into that world. Fun.

[RK Byers · Rating 4 out of 5]

more like Portnoy takes on Vito Corleone.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

entertaining