# Wiseguy (book)
Published in 1985, *Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family* is a narrative nonfiction book by the American journalist [Nicholas Pileggi](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-pileggi) that follows [Henry Hill](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-hill), an organized-crime associate of middling rank who passed twenty-five years within the [American Mafia](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-mafia) before turning federal witness.[1](https://www.supersummary.com/wiseguy/summary/) The book was the basis for Martin Scorsese's 1990 film *GoodFellas*, for which Pileggi co-wrote the screenplay.[2](https://www.filmguides.co.uk/guides/true-story-films/how-much-of-goodfellas-happened/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Nicholas Pileggi, a crime reporter for *New York* magazine, writing with Hill's cooperation[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342) |
| First publication | Simon & Schuster, 1985; 256 pages, $17.45, ISBN 978-0-671-44734-2[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342) |
| Subject | Henry Hill, a 30-year veteran of a Brooklyn strong-arm branch of the Lucchese crime family who helped convict his former associates and entered the Federal Witness Protection Program[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342) |
| Central events | A Boston College point-shaving scandal and the $6-million Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport in 1978[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342) |
| Film adaptation | Martin Scorsese's *GoodFellas* (1990), with a screenplay co-written by Pileggi[2](https://www.filmguides.co.uk/guides/true-story-films/how-much-of-goodfellas-happened/) |
| Notable praise | Cosmopolitan: "the best book ever written on organized crime"; Jimmy Breslin: "the best book on crime in America ever written"[4](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wiseguy/Nicholas-Pileggi/9781982129903) • [5](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/502/105/) |
| Legal history | Subject of the Supreme Court case *Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of N.Y. State Crime Victims Bd.*, 502 U.S. 105 (1991)[5](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/502/105/) |
## Subject and method
At the heart of the book is Henry Hill, who was of Irish and Sicilian descent and worked with the [Lucchese crime family](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucchese-crime-family); because of this mixed background, he was barred from ever being formally inducted as a made member.[2](https://www.filmguides.co.uk/guides/true-story-films/how-much-of-goodfellas-happened/) *Publishers Weekly* described the "wiseguy" of the title as mob parlance for a street-level hoodlum, and its review traces Hill's career from his early days as an errand boy at age 12 for the racketeer Paulie Vario in Brooklyn's Brownsville–East New York section.[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342)
The book was written with Hill's cooperation after he entered witness protection, and is told primarily in Hill's first-person narrative, describing in detail the daily existence of organized crime.[2](https://www.filmguides.co.uk/guides/true-story-films/how-much-of-goodfellas-happened/) • [6](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/144227091.pdf) Pileggi's method converts extensive access into a narrative that moves quickly between Hill's voice, other voices, and third-person context.[7](https://www.onewal.com/reviews/wiseguy-book/)
## Content
The book traces Hill's path within the Lucchese orbit, beginning with small jobs and stealing, and going on to cover the 1978 [Lufthansa heist](https://www.edgepedia.org/lufthansa-heist), narcotics trafficking, his assistance to authorities, and life under witness protection.[7](https://www.onewal.com/reviews/wiseguy-book/) Its account of the demimonde presents car theft, hijacking-to-order, credit-card scams, cigarette smuggling, and other hustles as workaday as a 9-to-5 office job.[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342) Two episodes stand out: Hill's pivotal role in a [Boston College](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-college) point-shaving scandal and the $6-million Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport in 1978.[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342)
The book is not a comprehensive history of American organized crime or even of the Lucchese organization; its scope is the life of one participant and the crew around him.[7](https://www.onewal.com/reviews/wiseguy-book/)
## Reception
*Wiseguy* was reviewed favorably. *The Washington Post* called it "an amply detailed and entirely fascinating book that amounts to a piece of revisionist history," and the [New York Daily News](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-daily-news) columnist [Jimmy Breslin](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-breslin) named it "the best book on crime in America ever written."[5](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/502/105/) *The New York Times Book Review* called it "Nonstop...absolutely engrossing," and the publisher's page quotes Cosmopolitan's judgment that it was "the best book ever written on organized crime."[4](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wiseguy/Nicholas-Pileggi/9781982129903) *Publishers Weekly* called it "a riveting account of organized crime as a way of life" and noted it was a Literary Guild featured alternate.[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342)
From Henry Hill's perspective, however, the publicity generated by the book's success proved less desirable.[5](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/502/105/)
## Legal aftermath
The book became the subject of a United States Supreme Court case. In *Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of N.Y. State Crime Victims Bd.*, 502 U.S. 105 (1991), the Court considered a New York law requiring criminals to turn over proceeds from works describing their crimes, a statute applied because of the income Hill could earn from his story.[5](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/502/105/)
## The film adaptation
Believing that making another gangster movie was pointless unless it portrayed reality truthfully, Martin Scorsese actively sought to bring the book to the screen as a film. He said he knew it would make a fascinating film if it kept "the same sense of a way of life that Nick had in the book" and remained "as close to the truth as possible in a fiction film, without whitewashing the characters or creating a phony sympathy for them."[8](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/56dcdb9d-a355-47f8-a81c-3653f27d1480/892663-1285365.pdf) The adaptation is extremely faithful to the book; the critic Maurizio Viano, an Italian-American educator and film critic, has described *GoodFellas* as a piece of documentary film fiction built from what he called the documentary journalism of Pileggi's book.[9](https://www.enotes.com/topics/martin-scorsese/criticism/scorsese-martin-vol-89/maurizio-viano-review-date-spring-1991) Hill's crackling narration in the film is drawn straight out of *Wiseguy*.[4](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wiseguy/Nicholas-Pileggi/9781982129903)
## Publication history
The book was first published in 1985.[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342) [Open Library](https://www.edgepedia.org/open-library) records a June 1987 printing of the 1985 original.[10](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL9800843M/Wiseguy) [Simon & Schuster](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-and-schuster) reissued it as a 304-page trade paperback on April 16, 2019 (ISBN 9781982129903), with an introduction by Martin Scorsese, list priced at $18.99.[4](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wiseguy/Nicholas-Pileggi/9781982129903)
## References
1. [Wiseguy Summary, SuperSummary](https://www.supersummary.com/wiseguy/summary/)
2. [How Much of Goodfellas Actually Happened to Henry Hill?, Film Guides](https://www.filmguides.co.uk/guides/true-story-films/how-much-of-goodfellas-happened/)
3. [Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family review, Publishers Weekly (January 1, 1985)](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780671447342)
4. [Wiseguy, Official Publisher Page, Simon & Schuster](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wiseguy/Nicholas-Pileggi/9781982129903)
5. [Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of N. Y. State Crime Victims Bd., 502 U.S. 105 (1991), Justia](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/502/105/)
6. [Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law paper (Core)](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/144227091.pdf)
7. [Wiseguy: What the Book Adds Beyond Goodfellas, One Wal review](https://www.onewal.com/reviews/wiseguy-book/)
8. [Thesis on Scorsese and the Wiseguy adaptation, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia](https://unitesi.unive.it/retrieve/56dcdb9d-a355-47f8-a81c-3653f27d1480/892663-1285365.pdf)
9. [Maurizio Viano, review of Goodfellas, Film Quarterly, Spring 1991 (eNotes)](https://www.enotes.com/topics/martin-scorsese/criticism/scorsese-martin-vol-89/maurizio-viano-review-date-spring-1991)
10. [Wiseguy, Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL9800843M/Wiseguy)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Law and justice › Criminal law and penal justice › Crime, criminology, and criminal justice policy › Crime in media and culture › Organized crime in popular culture*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license