The Deeds of My Fathers

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What to expect

A story that reads like The Godfather has been crossed with Citizen Kane. The Deeds of My Fathers is the riveting true story of two men, a father and a son, who each started with nothing and built an empire.

Generoso Pope, Sr., an Italian immigrant, arrived in New York in 1906 with only pennies in his pocket. He got a job shoveling sand, but through his intelligence, natural leadership, ruthlessness, and ability to woo powerful politicians such as Jimmy Walker and Franklin Roosevelt, he worked his way up to become the biggest provider of cement, just as it was becoming the key building material for New York, vital to landmarks such as Rockerfeller Center and Radio City Music Hall.

Gene Pope, Jr. was his father’s choice to inherit and run the business, but Gene’s mother and two brothers forced him out, and he found himself penniless and on his own. With a loan from his godfather, mobster Frank Costello, Gene bought the New York Enquirer. He renamed it the National Enquirer and focused on the paranormal, celebrities, and the hopes and fears of Americans. Gene forced the tabloid into the supermarkets and became a powerful media force, peaking with the seven million copies sold of the blockbuster exposé on the death of Elvis.

Critics Review

  • “A true story that keeps you glued to the pages learning about money, crime, power, and the love of many beautiful women. A real page-turner.”

    Dominick Dunne, author of Too Much Money

  • “The Deeds of My Fathers has it all: immigrants, moguls, presidents, mafiosi, sex, success, loyalty, betrayal and that most outrageous, scandalous, audacious and—as it turns out—imitated of media ventures, the National Enquirer.”

    Peter Quinn, author of The Man Who Never Returned

  • “A fascinating ride into the subculture of organized crime.”

    Bob Delaney, author of Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob

  • “[A] powerful biography…Crowded with presidents, celebrities, and mobsters, this bio of ambitious alpha males, in a dysfunctional clan worthy of a soap opera, is among the best portraits of Italian American life to appear in some time.”

    Publishers Weekly

  • “Narrator Keith Szarabajka’s mesmerizing voice captures the tone of this memoir as the author unfolds the achievements of his Italian American family over two generations…This is history on a broad American canvas: twentieth-century immigrants, moguls, US presidents, and Mafiosi carrying out the loyalties and betrayals among them that built the city of New York we know today.”

    AudioFile

  • “[A] richly detailed tale of businessmen, mobsters, and politicians that reads like a soap opera written by Mario Puzo…Also included are portraits of Mussolini, Frank Sinatra, A. J. Liebling, Carlo Tresca, Joe Bonanno and Joe Profaci. Readable and revealing, and the vividly re-created scenes cry out for film treatment.”

    Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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