Mobster Joke Book Will Just Kill You (with Laughter)

A book review by Al Lewis for MarketWatch:


When Malcolm Kushner didn’t call me back right away, I was afraid he’d been whacked.

I didn’t think it was such a good idea when Kushner came out with his mafia joke book earlier this month, telling hilarious tales of “Not so wise guys” and “dumbfellas.”

Some of his jokes go like this: “Why was the stupid hit man hospitalized? He was sent to blow up a car and burned his lips on the tailpipe.”

Kushner, 59, is quick to note that this isn’t really a mafia joke book. It’s a mob humor book. No disrespect intended.
Author Malcolm Kushner
pokes fun at the mob.


 It includes a compendium of mobster movies going back to the 1930s. And it features real-life headlines, like this one from a 2003 New York Post story about a mob boss gunned down because he was gay: “Mobster Sleeps with the Swishes.”

Lucky for Kushner, at least some mobsters have a sense of humor. Former Gambino family associate Louis Ferrante contributed this blurb for Kushner’s book jacket: “When the judge threw the book at me, I wish it had been “The Official Book of Mob Humor.’”

At least one joke highlights a fundamental flaw that this book struggles to overcome: “What’s the problem with mobster jokes? Mobsters don’t think they’re funny, and everyone else thinks they’re not jokes.”



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