Pileggi's book was written with Henry Hill, whose life it describes. The narrative switches between Pileggi, Hill, and Hill's wife Karen, all delivered with the smooth action of a well-polished Magnum. It proves utterly compelling, breathlessly serving up an action-fuelled life of criminal excess with Henry starting as an aspirant 12-year-old errand runner ("To be a wiseguy was better than being president of the United States. To be a wiseguy was to own the world"), and progressing to such a status within the Mob that when he is finally nailed he turns Federal witness to implicate his former cronies, a move that represents his only chance to save his family's necks. The irony for Hill is that his fictionalised life story has been seen by millions, but he cannot tell anyone without jeopardising his new identity, which means he gets "to live the rest of my life as a shnook". As a source the book runs very close to the film, and someone who know the film will find it hard not to picture Scorseses's stylised realisation as they read, while those who don't will discover a grittily related, authentically grim amorality tale of a life shot through with brutality and survivalist scheming that stands on its own without the Big Screen treatment. Surprisingly bleak. --David Vincent