Mafia, U.S.A. [antikvár]

Introduction Everyone is a Mafia expert these days. Reading about the latest Mafia assassination provides a bit of excitement, a peek into the mysterious workings of another world. Those sharp-dressing, tough-looking hoods with their colorful nicknames and their scorn for authority appeal to the daydreamer in all of us, and the Mafia seems to be riding a wave of popularity, its wars and heroes chronicled in dozens of books, movies, magazine articles and television programs. In fact, so much lore and literature has grown up around the Mafia that it's easy to think of Mafiosi as picaresque heroes on the order of the James brothers or Robin Hood and his merry men. Mob wars are often treated in print as a particularly American pastime like baseball. The success of such books as Mario Puzo's The Godfather and Gay Talese's Honor Thy Father demonstrates that this country is in the grip of Mafia fever; as one toy manufacturer put it, the Mafia is "hot" these days. Gangster chic is supplanting radical chic, and any hostess who can produce a guest of honor with Mafia connections is certain to have people grappling for invitations to her party. Unfortunately, the Mafia does not hand out press releases, thus there is more than a little disagreement on what the Mafia really is and what it's up to lately. For example, on March 3, 1972, Life magazine, which had previously carried numerous pieces on the Mafia, published an article that was headlined in very large