"The Life We Chose--an unforgettable story. A really great read." -- Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino, and screenwriter of Goodfellas "Mentored by one of the best in the business, Billy D'Elia did it all. Mafia diplomat, underworld entrepreneur. The Life We Chose is a riveting, extraordinary account of one of the last twentieth-century goodfellas." -- George Anastasia, author of The Last Gangster and Blood and Honor "It's impossible to make up a mafia story like The Life We Chose. All the power play from The Godfather and The Sopranos with one key difference: it's true. The Life We Chose is an unbelievable, truly great book.

" -- Jan Stocklassa, bestselling author of The Man Who Played with Fire "The Life We Chose is a rip-roaring tear through the Mob's heyday in America. Peppered with larger-than-life names like Jimmy Hoffa and Marlon Brando, Michael Jackson and Suge Knight, Crazy Joe Gallo and John Gotti, The Life We Chose is spellbinding. True-crime writing at its very best." -- Douglas Century, New York Times bestselling author of Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire "A fresh tale of 'mafia royalty.' . An eye-opening look at the ordinary--and nasty and lethal--business of organized crime." -- Kirkus Reviews "These historical figures [Muhammad Ali and Johnny Unitas] have something in common--both did favors for a man once considered one of the country's most powerful mob bosses . The book is a revelation about the power and influence Bufalino and D'Elia quietly wielded from their small Pennsylvania town on American society--from the streets to the stage to the stadiums.

" -- Washington Times "[D'Elia] is baring all, offering a candid, unfiltered, and fascinating account of what it was really like to be a part of one of history's most powerful mobs." -- Town & Country, The 41 Must-Read Books of Summer 2023 (#9) "The Life We Chose provides an unprecedented insider's account of the history of the American Mafia since the 1950s, breaking new ground all along the way. It's a chilling and yet astonishingly intimate look at the lives of powerful crime boss Russell Bufalino and his successor, Billy D'Elia." -- Paul Moses, author of The Italian Squad: The True Story of the Immigrant Cops Who Fought the Rise of the Mafia.