{{Short description|2021 book by Russell Shorto}} {{Use American English|date=December 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox book |name=Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob |image=Smalltime A Story of My Family and the Mob.jpg |author=Russell Shorto |language=English |pub_date=February 1, 2021 (paperback) <br /> February 2, 2021 (hardcover) |pages=272 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |subject=family memoir |isbn=978-0-393-24558-5}} '''''Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob''''' is a 2021 memoir by Russell Shorto that examines his family's involvement in organized crime. The book centers on Shorto's grandfather, Russ, son of an Italian immigrant to the United States who once served as second in command for the mob in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Shorto stated his mother's cousin, who worked as a numbers runner for his grandfather, asked him to write the book. During prohibition, Russ ran alcohol and built a "small city empire" around Johnstown, with money going to the Mafia in New York City and some to the mob in Pittsburgh. The book follows Russ after the World War II years as he organized gambling operations in the city. ''Smalltime'' concludes with Shorto examining his relationship with his father, Tony.
The book received mostly positive reviews upon release. Multiple reviewers noted Shorto wrote a book mainly on family dynamics, which also happened to deal with the mob.
==Author and background== The author of the book is Russell Shorto, an American historian, journalist, and writer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/58936-going-dutch-pw-talks-with-russell-shorto.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701000842/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/58936-going-dutch-pw-talks-with-russell-shorto.html|archive-date=July 1, 2022|title=Going Dutch: PW Talks with Russell Shorto|work=Publishers Weekly|access-date=September 30, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="WaPo_review">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/he-knew-his-grandfather-was-a-mob-boss-but-was-that-the-whole-story/2021/02/10/94aabcfc-54e8-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314172031/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/he-knew-his-grandfather-was-a-mob-boss-but-was-that-the-whole-story/2021/02/10/94aabcfc-54e8-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html|archive-date=March 14, 2023|title=He knew his grandfather was a mob boss. But was that the whole story?|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 12, 2021|last=Heim|first=Joe|access-date=September 30, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CUNY">{{cite web|url=https://weissman.baruch.cuny.edu/arts-and-culture-at-weissman/the-sidney-harman-writer-in-residence-program/russell-shorto/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922055241/https://weissman.baruch.cuny.edu/arts-and-culture-at-weissman/the-sidney-harman-writer-in-residence-program/russell-shorto/|archive-date=September 22, 2021|url-status=live|title=Russell Shorto|work=Weissman School of Arts and Sciences|access-date=September 30, 2023}}</ref> Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where he was also raised,<ref name="CUNY" /> Shorto studied philosophy and journalism at George Washington University.<ref>{{cite news|title=Reading: Russell Shorto on "Descartes' Bones"|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/books/2008/10/reading_russell_shorto_on_desc.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001041454/https://www.oregonlive.com/books/2008/10/reading_russell_shorto_on_desc.html|archive-date=October 1, 2023|date=October 17, 2008|last=Perry|first=Douglas|newspaper=The Oregonian|access-date=September 30, 2023}}</ref> ''City Journal'' described him as a narrative history writer, with books previously published on the Dutch history of Manhattan and Amsterdam.<ref name="City_Journal">{{cite web|url=https://www.city-journal.org/article/all-or-nothing-at-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001041626/https://www.city-journal.org/article/all-or-nothing-at-all|archive-date=October 1, 2023|title=All or Nothing at All|work=City Journal|date=April 14, 2021|last=McElwee|first=Charles F.|access-date=September 30, 2023}}</ref> Shorto stated his mother's cousin, who worked as a numbers runner for Shorto's grandfather, asked him to write the book.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/02/02/1077315071/writer-russell-shorto-chronicles-his-familys-secret-mob-operation-in-smalltime|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319144739/https://www.npr.org/2022/02/02/1077315071/writer-russell-shorto-chronicles-his-familys-secret-mob-operation-in-smalltime|archive-date=March 19, 2023|title=Writer Russell Shorto chronicles his family's secret mob operation in 'Smalltime'|work=Fresh Air|publisher=NPR|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=September 30, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> W. W. Norton & Company published ''Smalltime'', with the paperback released worldwide on February 1, 2021, and the hardcover released a day later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393245585/about-the-book/product-details|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001042139/https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393245585/about-the-book/product-details|archive-date=October 1, 2023|url-status=live|title=Smalltime|work=W. W. Norton & Company|access-date=September 30, 2023}}</ref>
==Overview== The book centers around Shorto's grandfather, Russ, son of an Italian immigrant who works with the mob in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. During Prohibition in the United States, Russ ran alcohol and built a "small city empire"<ref name="Kirkus">{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/russell-shorto/smalltime-shorto/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019162308/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/russell-shorto/smalltime-shorto/|archive-date=October 19, 2021|title=Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob|work=Kirkus Reviews|date=October 26, 2020|access-date=September 30, 2023}}</ref> around Johnstown, with money going to the Mafia in New York City and some to the mob in Pittsburgh. The book follows Russ after the World War II years as he organized gambling operations in the city. ''Smalltime'' concludes with Shorto examining his relationship with his father, Tony.
==Reception== Multiple reviewers noted Shorto wrote a book mainly on family dynamics, which also happened to deal with the mob. In the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', journalist and radio host Bill O'Driscoll called the book a cogent and detailed primer on the mob, though the true power in the book came through the author's relationship with his father, about whom he learns the reasons why he did not end up therein.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2021/02/11/Russell-Shorto-Smalltime-story-my-family-mob-review/stories/202102110009|title='Smalltime' is a unique tale of small-town mob life|last=O'Driscoll|first=Bill|date=February 11, 2021|access-date=September 30, 2023|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123004859/https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2021/02/11/Russell-Shorto-Smalltime-story-my-family-mob-review/stories/202102110009|archive-date=January 23, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''The Wall Street Journal'', Bryan Burrough felt the mafia media space already crowded by other memoirs such as one by Al Capone's alleged grandson, but called Shorto's book fresh, which surprised him.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/smalltime-review-johnstown-after-dark-11612826854|title='Smalltime' Review: Johnstown After Dark|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=February 8, 2021|last=Burrough|first=Bryan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219185707/https://www.wsj.com/articles/smalltime-review-johnstown-after-dark-11612826854|archive-date=February 19, 2021|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> James Pekoll of ''Booklist'' called the book a fresh take on an interesting part to American history.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Smalltime-A-Story-of-My-Family-and-the-Mob-/pid=9741602|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001042920/https://www.booklistonline.com/Smalltime-A-Story-of-My-Family-and-the-Mob-/pid=9741602|archive-date=October 1, 2023|url-status=live|magazine=Booklist|last=Pekoll|first=James|title=Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob|date=February 1, 2021|access-date=September 30, 2023|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Former museum division director of the Heinz History Center Bill Keyes reviewed the book in ''Western Pennsylvania History'', stating Russell's conversations with his father and his associates dispelled rumors about Russ's criminal career while illustrating the author's own relationship with his father. Keyes called the book moving and unstinting.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Book Reviews: Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob|page=65|journal=Western Pennsylvania History|url=https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/view/63469/62362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001043053/https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/view/63469/62362|archive-date=October 1, 2023|url-status=live|last=Keyes|first=Bill|volume=124|issue=3|date=Fall 2021}}</ref> On Shorto's interviews with his grandfather's associates, journalist Joe Heim of ''The Washington Post'' stated his grandfather appears flat as the interviews do not penetrate the surface of who his grandfather was, though the talks themselves are long. Similarly, Heim states the book does not have enough substance on the author's grandfather to make it one the reader could not put down, though when the book focused on Russell's relationship with his father, it resolved well.<ref name="WaPo_review" />
Helene Stapinski of ''The New York Times'' called the book a family dynamics story, not really one about mobs– and noted the real revelations in the story came from the lives Russ ruined and manipulated.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/books/review/smalltime-russell-shorto.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125122153/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/books/review/smalltime-russell-shorto.html|archive-date=November 25, 2022|title=Russell Shorto's Grandpa Was a 'Smalltime' Mobster|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 2, 2021|last=Stapinski|first=Helene|access-date=September 30, 2023|url-access=subscription|url-status=live}}</ref> Charles F. McElwee of ''City Journal'' agreed with Stapinski's take on family dynamics, and described Russ as "holy trinity of a reprobate—a drunk, a philanderer, and a cheat whose family and friends suffered from the emotional toll".<ref name="City_Journal" /> ''Kirkus Reviews'' called Shorto's portrayal of local mobsters vivid.<ref name="Kirkus" /> A review in ''Publishers Weekly'' concluded that "Shorto presents a fascinating institutional history of small-town organized crime and a moving family saga with equal amounts of detail and heart", and said those interested in mob history would love the book.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-39324-558-5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721160217/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-39324-558-5|archive-date=July 21, 2021|url-status=live|title=Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob|work=Publishers Weekly|access-date=September 30, 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{cite web|url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3902#m51040|title=Review: Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob|work=Shelf Awareness|date=February 2, 2022|last=Gerard|first=Kathleen}} ''Shelf Awareness'' book review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob}} Category:2021 non-fiction books Category:English-language non-fiction books Category:W. W. Norton & Company books Category:Books about families Category:Non-fiction books about Italian-American organized crime Category:History of Johnstown, Pennsylvania