The Boys Of Paul Street

This true crime memoir of 1950s Brooklyn shares a revealing look at life inside the Mafia at the height of its power. Frank Dimatteo was born into a family of mob hitmen. His father and godfather were shooters and bodyguards for infamous Mafia legends the Gallo brothers. His uncle was a capo in the Genovese crime family and bodyguard to Frank Costello. With family connections like those, Frank knew everybody in the neighborhood—and they knew him. After dropping out of high school, Frank lived gangster-style with the boys on President Street. In this lively memoir, Frank tells it like it really was growing up in the mob. He shares wild stories about everyone from the old-school Mafia dons and infamous “five families” to the new-breed “independents” who didn’t answer to nobody. He had a front row seat as the Gallo gang waged war against wiseguys with more power, more money, and more guns. And he reveals the shocking deathbed confessions that will blow the lid off the sordid deeds, stunning betrayals, and all-too-secret history of the American Mafia. The President Street Boys was originally self-published as Lion in the Basement.

The inspiration for the Major Motion Picture Directed by George Clooney—exclusively in theaters December 25, 2023! The #1 New York Times bestselling true story about the American rowing triumph of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin—from the author of Facing the Mountain For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant. It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest.

This book begins with the inspiring story of Steve Dawson - his dramatic conversion to Catholicism as a young man and his founding of St. Paul Street Evangelization, an international apostolate that has grown to hundreds of teams in seven countries in just a few years. Also included are other moving stories of conversion and witness. The authors are ordinary Catholics who have come to love Christ so much that they now talk about Him with total strangers in public places - street corners, parks, and shopping areas. They aren't theologians, nor are they highly trained apologists with Ambrosian rhetorical skills or Dale Carnegie slickness, yet their simple missionary efforts have yielded amazing results. The book's style is readable, accessible, and conversational. It illustrates the missionary calling of all baptized Christians, including Catholics. It reveals the joy and fulfillment that come to those who humbly yet boldly share the good news of God's mercy with others.

The Street Kids is the most important novel by Italy's preeminent late-20th Century author and intellectual, Pier Paolo Pasolini. A powerful, groundbreaking contemporary classic, The Street Kids is now available in a new translation by Ann Goldstein, translator of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels. Set in Rome during the post-war years, the Rome of the "borgate," outlying neighborhoods beset by poverty and deprivation, The Street Kids tells the story of a group of adolescents belonging to the urban underclass. Living hand-to-mouth, Riccetto and his friends eek out an existence doing odd jobs, committing petty crimes and prostituting themselves. Rooted in the neorealist movement of the 1950s, The Street Kids is a tender, heart-rending tribute to an entire social class in danger of being forgotten. Pasolini's novel was heavily censored, criticized by professional critics, and lambasted by much of the general public upon its publication. But its undeniable force and vitality eventually led to it being universally acknowledged as a masterpiece.