{"id":5983,"date":"2016-10-03T13:32:42","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T13:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crimeculture.com\/?p=5983"},"modified":"2016-10-03T13:44:21","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T13:44:21","slug":"dogfella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeculture.com\/?p=5983","title":{"rendered":"Dogfella"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Guiliani and Charlie Stella, Dogfella<\/em> (Da Capo, 2015)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Review by Kate Horsley<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dogfella\"<\/a>When a London TV company proposes making a documentary about the life of James Guiliani, the man who phones him suggests a hook: \u201cFrom Goodfella to Dogfella. That\u2019s a great story, James. A great human-interest story.\u201d Guiliani laughingly reflects that he hadn\u2019t thought of his life that way, since he wasn\u2019t technically a Goodfella, a made guy. But he\u2019s been a gangster, has spent time in prison, has changed his life of crime and addiction to one of rescuing animals \u2013 and \u201cI guess \u2018animal fella\u2019 wasn\u2019t as catchy.\u201d Dogfella<\/em><\/a> is a riveting account of an extraordinary life, told by Guiliani in collaboration with Charlie Stella, one of the very best writers of mob fiction, including Charlie Opera<\/em> (2003) and Johnny Porno<\/em> (2010 \u2013 see crimeculture\u2019s review<\/a>). Stella is remarkable, Guiliani says, \u201cfor finding and writing in my voice like no other\u201d, and the collaboration produces an autobiography that is as absorbing as a good novel, by turns violent, distressing, funny, touching and suspenseful.<\/p>\n

We know from the first chapter that a crucial turning point in Guiliani\u2019s life was his rescue of Bruno, an appallingly mistreated, barely alive Shih Tzu. Used to thinking of himself as a tough guy, committed to serving only his own interests, he is taken aback by the intensity of the emotional bond that he suddenly feels: \u201cThe fuck is wrong with you?\u201d he says to himself. \u201cIt\u2019s a fuckin\u2019 dog.\u201d Much of the autobiography recounts the gradual, often painful process of personal redemption during which Guiliani comes to see that what was \u201cwrong with him\u201d was the heedless self-absorption of his early years. With the help of the love of his life, Lena Perrelli, he commits himself absolutely to rescuing and caring for all animals in need of his help, a mission that takes him from being \u201ca man determined to self-destruct\u201d to being someone who has devoted his life to others \u2013 in this case, to the hundreds of animals whose lives can be preserved by \u201ca true Dogfella\u201d.<\/p>\n

The animal rescue chapters of Guiliani\u2019s autobiography give us a vivid succession of engrossing stories. The animals themselves all have distinct characters \u2013 ranging from a huge (160 pound), nearly intractable Cane Corso called Primo, who becomes a \u201cgentle giant\u201d, to Princess, a tiny Pomeranian who bites anyone who comes near her because of the violent abuse she has suffered, but, loved and trained by Guiliani, becomes his constant companion, carried snugly against his left rib cage wherever he goes (\u201cWhat can I say, we were a cute couple\u201d). There is drama both in the stories of the animals whose lives hang in the balance and in the extreme circumstances of major disasters like Hurricane Sandy, which brought \u201chorror stories about pets that had died during and after the hurricane,\u201d but also happy endings for the many dogs and cats that were saved.<\/p>\n

Alternating with the chapters centering on animal rescue, there is a boisterous, unvarnished account of Guiliani\u2019s earlier years. We follow his misadventures as a school boy – the mischief, truancy and fistfights \u2013 and his \u201cpremature graduation\u201d into a different sort of education, when he is introduced by Fat George DiBello to the Gotti crew. The late \u201880s saw him acting as an enforcer for New York\u2019s most powerful crime family and, when money \u201cflowed like from a waterfall,\u201d spending it on a serious cocaine addiction, without ever considering the consequences of what he was doing to feed his habit. Not long after John Gotti was convicted, Guiliani tried to step out on his own with a botched hijacking that earned him a two-year prison sentence. Released in 1995, he was soon back to alcohol and drug addiction, but eventually, with the help of Lena, his \u201cselfish act had run its course.\u201d He helps her out as she starts a pet boutique, the Diamond Collar, and in time, battling through countless obstacles, establishes his own highly unorthodox animal-rescue shelter, with rugs and furniture and no locking up \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m not opening another prison here. Animals don\u2019t belong in cages.\u201d Patient, determined and wholly dedicated to his new path in life, Guiliani tells a forthright, heartwarming story, fascinating throughout.<\/p>\n

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James Guiliani and Charlie Stella, Dogfella (Da Capo, 2015) Review by Kate Horsley When a London TV company proposes making<\/p>\n

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