Russell Shorto is known for writing about the past. Over six nonfiction books, he's tackled narrative histories about Jesus (Gospel Truth), the world's most liberal city (Amsterdam) and notable founders of the U.S. (Revolution Song). In Smalltime, Shorto intimately mines his own life, his "normal small-town America childhood," contrasted against the history of his Sicilian American family and their ties to the mob. He delivers a beautifully rendered, spellbinding saga about family secrets and taboos.
Shorto's inspiration to explore his own life began when he and his extended family paid an after-Christmas visit to a distant cousin, once a successful jazz singer in Las Vegas who "came home" to Pennsylvania and continued to croon lounge songs publicly with a "local geriatric combo." At a break in his musical set, Cousin Frank, now in his late 70s, casually asked Shorto when he was finally going to write about his grandfather, Shorto's father's father, and his connection to the mob. That question sparked the reluctant Shorto to learn more about his grandfather--a man for whom Shorto was named--who was once a mob boss in Johnstown, Pa., when it was a bustling steel mill town.
The journey Shorto takes to trace his grandfather's life is eventful, entertaining and enlightening. He investigates his grandfather's origins, who he was, and how and why he came to establish a criminal network of gambling. Smalltime is a thorough, immensely moving and empathetic portrait of Shorto's namesake, and how his Sicilian American immigrant experiences shaped the course of history. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines