Mafia boss grandfather inspiration for first novel

The Grandfather Clause by Phil Genovese

Speaking to Reuters, author Phil Genovese revealed he took little pride in his family’s criminal connections.

Despite his resentment the grandson of mob boss Vito ‘Don Vito’ Genovese has managed to turn his childhood memories and experiences into fiction in his first outing into the publishing world.

His debut, the self-published novel The Grandfather Clause was 10 years in the making, mostly down to the fact that he only wrote the book’s material on Sunday afternoons when he was able to sneak away from family.

The book focuses on a New Jersey boy who eagerly looks forward to his grandfather’s visits but later learns that his elderly relative is the leader of a New York crime family. Further into the book the now adult protagonist finds he had to penetrate his grandfather’s world.

Genovese was actually brought by an accountant mother and father in Jersey and has only sparse memories of his grandfather, the Genovese crime family boss, who passed away in prison at the age of 71 in 1969.

The full interview is included below:

Q: When did you start to write?

A: “I am in my mid-50s and started out thinking some day I may like to write a book but I came out of school not really knowing what I wanted to do and ended up being an executive in a mobile transportation company. In 1996 I bought the first family computer and thought maybe this could enable me to write.”

Q: Is it autobiographical?

A: “Not really. I had built a story in my head over the years commuting in the car about someone like me with an infamous grandfather who led his father’s life rather than his grandfather’s but had an occurrence that caused him for a brief period to go back to his grandfather’s world.”

Q: It took 10 years to finish. Did you enjoy it?

A: “I can’t make a living from it but it brings me some peace and enjoyment. I published the book with an online publisher so I still own the rights to this book. I went the traditional route and secured two agents along the way and got the usual slew of rejection letters and an offer from a big publisher but the advance was very light and not a lot of promotion. They tend to focus on the big-selling authors. It’s a very crowded market with about 200,000 books published a year.”

Q: Does your name help with publicity?

A: “My last name does get me engagements. People think I will tell them some dark secrets about the mafia. But I was just nine years old when my grandfather went to jail.”

Q: Did your father mind you writing the book?

A: “My parents were supportive. I respect the work my father has done in his life and the sacrifices he has made to redistinguish our family name. From a young age he separated himself from his father and opened an accountancy practice and went on to become a member of the town council. All his good and hard work was built on his reputation and not on his father’s.”

Q: How did you view your heritage?

A mugshot of Don Vito Genovese

A: “Growing up we were always cognitive of it and tried to tread a certain line. We never denied our heritage but it is not something we are proud of. Am I taking advantage of it with the book? Perhaps, but only to sell my book and get people to read it. If we count up all the ugly and painful moments in my family’s life they are all related to my grandfather. Schoolyard fights, prejudice in the job market were all directly attributed to his legacy and the stain he left on the Genovese name.”

Q: What do you remember about your grandfather?

A: “We’d go to his house at noon and he was just getting up. They had a night life. I remember him being well dressed, in a tie a lot. You always knew there was something going on with him in the special way people referred to him and the whispering.”

Q: Have you had much reaction to the book?

A: “There has been strange emails from people saying we are related and saying Vito was my father. When I mention this to my father he says: “Who knows?.” In the start I would always give them a response saying I was not aware of anything but not now.”

Q: And you are working on your second book?

A: “It is called The Termination Clause. Some of the characters continue into the second book but I have created a new protagonist. It is like this book in that it has a core plot involving the mafia but there are other things too.”

Q: What is your advise to other aspiring writers?

A: “I would suggest carving out hours of the day to write and recommend you do the same thing for trying to get published or promoting a book. I decided to do online publishing as I wanted to get the book out and move on. Maybe the second book will be picked up and become a bestseller. Dozens of authors self-published their first book.”

If The Grandfather Clause reads anything like The Godfather film begins we’re in for a treat:

Discussion:
What’s your favourite crime novel? Does the literary world need another mobster book? What makes a great crime thriller?

Words: Dean Samways.

Tennessee Williams – A portrait by a playwright

Tennessee Williams scaring the pigeons in Jackson Square, New Orleans © Christopher R. Harris, All Rights Reserved

The much-celebrated playwright Tennessee Williams having a series of paintings exhibited alongside friend Michael Garady.

Speaking to The Guardian this week Garady explained that painting was a passion for Williams: “he treated it like a second profession.”

According to Michael, Tennessee started painting in the 60s when his career as a playwright took a dip.

He presented six different paintings to Garady. These pieces are now going to be exhibited in public for the first time.

Garady also told the newspaper stories of the pairs’ painting adventures.

“There’s a self-portrait and one of me bare-chested. I said, ‘I don’t like taking off my shirt, Tennessee.’ He said, ‘Oh go on, I want to learn anatomy.’ I said, ‘All right but put the fire on – it’s mighty cold’.

“So there I sat like a complete dolt with my shirt off, but I loved the portrait. It’s a little bit of history for me.

“He did it in pencil, with an oil wash – diluting the oil paint in turpentine and spreading it over a canvas-type paper. It came out like a watercolour.’

For the diary:
The exhibition will take place at the Saint Giles Street Gallery in Norwich until 27 November 2008.

Have a listen to some of the most engaging dialogue ever written by anyone in Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ starring the late great Marlon Brando:

Words: Seamus Swords