This true crime biography chronicles the life of the so-called “Oddfather” who ran a powerful NYC crime family while playing crazy to avoid prosecution.
Vincent “Chin” Gigante was a professional boxer before discovering his true calling as a ruthless contract killer. When Vito Genovese went to prison, he picked Gigante to run the Genovese crime family in his absence. While raking in more than one hundred million for the family, he routinely ordered the murders of mobsters who violated the Mafia code—including John Gotti.
At the height of Gigante’s reign, the Genovese Family was the most powerful in the United States. And yet he was, to all outside appearances, certifiably crazy. He wandered the streets of Greenwich Village in a ratty bathrobe and slippers. He urinated in public, played pinochle in storefronts, and hid a second family from his wife.
On twenty-two occasions, Gigante admitted himself to a mental hospital—evading criminal prosecution while maintaining his nefarious operations. It took nearly thirty years of endless psychiatric evaluations by a parade of puzzled doctors for federal authorities to finally bring him down.
About the author
Larry Mc Shane is an award-winning journalist honored for his work in both breaking news and feature writing over a four-decade career with the Associated Press and New York Daily News. A native New Yorker, Mc Shane has been a long-time chronicler of the five New York crime families dating back to his coverage of the 1985 mob hit on Gambino crime boss “Big Paul” Castellano outside Sparks Steak House. Mc Shane is also the author of the books Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vinvent Gigante, Cops Under Fire, and Last Don Standing. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and three children.
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