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wannabekingpin's review against another edition
5.0
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night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Fathered by a brutal man and not wholly there mother Richard witnessed his father beat his brother to death. Yet he doesn’t blame his upbringing for the things he did. In his words, paraphrasing, what he did, he chose to do. And the only thing he truly regrets is not killing his father when there was a chance. Other than that, it was all fair game. From rivals, snitches, bad guys in general, to passerby’s who just happened to be there when he was out to test his new toy, rowdy teens or just stupid drivers. The only taboo in Kuklinski’s book were women and children.
My Opinion: Rats eating people alive, body parts torn off, sharks, cyanide, an arsenal of weapons that allowed him to walk the streets for so long – no one suspected it could be one man doing so much work, from testing, training, to contract killing or outright justice slaying. Brutal to a point where it’s hard to wrap your mind around he went out of his way to save trafficked children, murdering rapists with pleasure. Never cheated on his wife, loved his children dearly, and at the end – did his best to lessen their involvement when it all came out.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Fathered by a brutal man and not wholly there mother Richard witnessed his father beat his brother to death. Yet he doesn’t blame his upbringing for the things he did. In his words, paraphrasing, what he did, he chose to do. And the only thing he truly regrets is not killing his father when there was a chance. Other than that, it was all fair game. From rivals, snitches, bad guys in general, to passerby’s who just happened to be there when he was out to test his new toy, rowdy teens or just stupid drivers. The only taboo in Kuklinski’s book were women and children.
My Opinion: Rats eating people alive, body parts torn off, sharks, cyanide, an arsenal of weapons that allowed him to walk the streets for so long – no one suspected it could be one man doing so much work, from testing, training, to contract killing or outright justice slaying. Brutal to a point where it’s hard to wrap your mind around he went out of his way to save trafficked children, murdering rapists with pleasure. Never cheated on his wife, loved his children dearly, and at the end – did his best to lessen their involvement when it all came out.
amkirk313's review against another edition
2.0
It started out really good but then just seemed very repetitive, got bored half way through.
jamesbullinger's review against another edition
5.0
He’s basically a serial killer that turns his hobby into his main hustle. Very interesting.
goldenassam's review against another edition
1.0
Stopped after about a third of the book. This book is bad. Not badly written, not badly constructed - but upsetting, because it takes on the self-portrayal of a convicted murderer uncritically, almost naively. The result is a narrative that cries out for a Tarantino film adaptation and could inspire fascination, especially in younger male readers, where dismay would be more appropriate.
An example in which it became clear to me again and again that here a murderer is telling his own story, as it were: Young Richard Kuklinski's trips to New York. Kuklinski is certainly portrayed in the book as a sadist and psychopath - but strangely enough, there is always a provocation in his earlier crimes. Even his murders targeting gay men supposedly don't start out of nowhere, but because he was flirted with in an aggressive manner. To me, this sounds very much like retrospective justification by an unreliable narrator.
The book's fixation on graphic depictions of violence would have been more acceptable to me if there was a touch of source criticism - such as an occasional questioning of what about Kuklinski's descriptions is self-glorification, what is simply invented, and what his general motivation is for telling so much about his crimes. This weighs all the more heavily, since in part it is doubted whether Kuklinski was even active as a murderer to that extent.
An example in which it became clear to me again and again that here a murderer is telling his own story, as it were: Young Richard Kuklinski's trips to New York. Kuklinski is certainly portrayed in the book as a sadist and psychopath - but strangely enough, there is always a provocation in his earlier crimes. Even his murders targeting gay men supposedly don't start out of nowhere, but because he was flirted with in an aggressive manner. To me, this sounds very much like retrospective justification by an unreliable narrator.
The book's fixation on graphic depictions of violence would have been more acceptable to me if there was a touch of source criticism - such as an occasional questioning of what about Kuklinski's descriptions is self-glorification, what is simply invented, and what his general motivation is for telling so much about his crimes. This weighs all the more heavily, since in part it is doubted whether Kuklinski was even active as a murderer to that extent.
matt_90's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
although a very interesting read the graphic depictions of domestic and physical violence to women that were described throughout were a bit much. the author uses similar phrases or repeats sentences as well as whole statements many times through the book so gets very repetitive after a while. all round an interesting look at the life of a mafia hitman but could have been cut down a lot without all the repetition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder
charlesrop's review against another edition
5.0
I feel a little duped by this book, but in the best way possible. When I read it as a teenaged mongrel, I found Kuklinski to be a sympathetic character. An unrepentent murderer, yes, but also a victim of racial and class hatred which limited his prospects. An abuser, but also a victim of trauma and abuse which stunted his capacity for human warmth. He was hideous to me, but he was also vulnerable. Carlo put a lot of effort into his interviews for this book, and the result seems to be a novel-length insight into a tender friendship between two thoughtful and unashamed men. There's even something cathartic to Kuklinski's words: "if I had the choice, I think I would have liked to be someone different to what I am". Holy crap, who hasn't felt like that?
Anyway, I got older. Now I often wonder if this 'sensitive meathead' Tony Soprano act was all the psychopath's trick. On Carlo, and on us. Into thinking he might have a heart, or that he might not deserve to die. Like Ted Bundy on death row, blaming all his action on pornography. Trying to eschew the blame one last time. I think I fell for it. Worse, I think Carlo fell for it, too.
This book still amazes me despite the metatextual mind games. Perhaps even because of them; because the message, the world view, is so neatly delivered. Nothing seems to have been lost in transcription.
A powerful portrait, but probably not in the way the author intended.
Anyway, I got older. Now I often wonder if this 'sensitive meathead' Tony Soprano act was all the psychopath's trick. On Carlo, and on us. Into thinking he might have a heart, or that he might not deserve to die. Like Ted Bundy on death row, blaming all his action on pornography. Trying to eschew the blame one last time. I think I fell for it. Worse, I think Carlo fell for it, too.
This book still amazes me despite the metatextual mind games. Perhaps even because of them; because the message, the world view, is so neatly delivered. Nothing seems to have been lost in transcription.
A powerful portrait, but probably not in the way the author intended.