Summary of Frank Dimatteo & Michael Benson's Carmine the Snake

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 La Mafia, a secret society, was formed in Sicily to protect the peasants against the tyranny of the feudal lords. It came to the United States during the wave of Italian and Sicilian immigrants between 1880 and 1914. The American version developed both imported and homegrown.

#2 The Mafia was a product of organized crime, and thrived during the Great Depression. It was in control of many aspects of life in Brooklyn, New York, particularly in Red Hook, where Italian men had two choices: be a longshoreman and break your back on the piers, or be a hood with a chance of rolling in dough.

#3 Red Hook, Brooklyn, was a grimy neighborhood of narrow cobblestone streets built upon a hook-shaped piece of land that protruded into New York Bay. It was a perfect place for cargo boats to pick up and drop off. The area was run by a gang called the White Hand in the mid-1920s.

#4 Carmine and his wife, Assunta, were young parents when they got married. They had four children, three of whom survived infancy. Carmine was a violent man, and he would often discipline his wife by hitting her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822523074

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Insights on Frank Dimatteo & Michael Benson's Carmine the Snake

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

La Mafia, a secret society, was formed in Sicily to protect the peasants against the tyranny of the feudal lords. It came to the United States during the wave of Italian and Sicilian immigrants between 1880 and 1914. The American version developed both imported and homegrown.

#2

The Mafia was a product of organized crime, and thrived during the Great Depression. It was in control of many aspects of life in Brooklyn, New York, particularly in Red Hook, where Italian men had two choices: be a longshoreman and break your back on the piers, or be a hood with a chance of rolling in dough.

#3

Red Hook, Brooklyn, was a grimy neighborhood of narrow cobblestone streets built upon a hook-shaped piece of land that protruded into New York Bay. It was a perfect place for cargo boats to pick up and drop off. The area was run by a gang called the White Hand in the mid-1920s.

#4

Carmine and his wife, Assunta, were young parents when they got married. They had four children, three of whom survived infancy. Carmine was a violent man, and he would often discipline his wife by hitting her.

#5

Red Hook, Brooklyn, was a neighborhood that was isolated from its surrounding areas by water and marshland. It developed a culture all its own, populated by tough men who worked on the piers.

#6

Carmine John Persico, Jr. was born in 1933 in Brooklyn. His family was middle class, but he chose to enter the life instead of pursuing a legitimate career. He was so smart, and yet he chose to hang out with poor malcontents.

#7

When Chubby Fiore was a teenager, she used to hang out with Carmine Persico and his friends. They would go riding around in cars together. Carmine was always behind the wheel, while she was next to him.

#8

Junior was a good guy, but he was also a crime boss. His friends Carmine and Mush were never mean or nasty, even when they were having fun. They were always calm and cool.

#9

Carmine was a good-looking boy, and as a youth he could be soft-spoken. He could be charming or as cold as ice. Everybody who encountered him understood, immediately and silently, it was much better to be on his side than against him.

#10

After World War II, American children were affected by the war just like their parents, as they saw the world in terms of war and small armies. They became cold-blooded, and suffered from an existential despair and anger beyond their years.

#11

There was a time in 1950 when zoot suits were the rage. The Garfields all had one, and they were so small that they looked