'Mob Wives' Star Karen Gravano Talks About Infamous Dad In Memoir

In "Mob Daughter: The Mafia, Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano, and Me!" Karen Gravano reveals what it was like growing up with her father, Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, who was John Gotti's right-hand man before he stunningly turned into a state witness against the mob boss.

Gravano also stars in the hit VH1 show "Mob Wives," and while some may argue that the show glamorizes the gangster lifestyle, the reality star-turned-author sums it up well: "When you choose this life, all that glitters isn't gold." It's a fact Gravano knows all too well, considering that she's no longer on speaking terms with her dad, due to her involvement with the show.

Gravano spoke to The Huffington Post about her memoir, those epic catfights and what her dad really thinks of "Mob Wives."

Why did you decide to write this book?
I just felt like my life came completely full circle and I realized why everything happened. I realized who we are as a family. I realized who my father was. I understand why he got into the lifestyle he did. For a long time, I didn't understand why he cooperated [with the authorities].

You write that you were furious that your dad cooperated with the police.
All my life I was taught that it was something you never do. I was thinking, "That's something you taught me all my life not to do. Why are you doing it?" When we grew up, in our circles, that was the worst thing you could do. It wasn't like I had friends who had normal fathers. All my friends' fathers were gangsters. Everyone I was around was into that life. When he did it, I knew people would turn their backs on us. I didn't know [it would be] to the extent that they did. I felt like my whole life was over.

Why do you think he cooperated?
Because he felt that he was double-crossed. He heard the Gotti tapes and once he listened to those tapes he realized that John double-crossed him. His first initial thoughts were, "I'm going to fight my case and when I get out I'm going to kill him." You know that’s how it's done in that lifestyle. But then he felt disgusted by the whole lifestyle, so he decided to turn his back and walk away.

Do you think "Mob Wives" glamorizes the gangster lifestyle?
The show was pitched to me to show what the women go through, the struggle. All of us are single moms because our partners are in prison.

The show also focuses on a lot of bickering between the cast members.
That's why my book is so important to me. Again, when you're on a show and there’s four women, you're kind of caught up in the situation. I'm definitely not saying it's other people's fault because I definitely contribute to a lot of the drama. I felt like I came home and got sucked into it.

I'm sick of the bickering, it's not who I am. For me, I can be that person, but I feel like my story is so much bigger than that and I feel like out of all the women on the show, my father, Sammy the Bull, he's the biggest name.

The show isn't scripted by any means, but you realize there are cameras and you kind of get caught up in the moment. It's all very new to me to talk about the lifestyle, admitting it. We never said the word "mob" growing up.

Does your dad like the show?
He definitely didn't like the name, but after he started watching it, he realized it's about the women, so he was okay with it. But now he's like, "I hate the fighting, I hate the arguing, the cursing," so I've also had to deal with that. My father is totally disgusted and hasn't spoken to me over the show. Hopefully I can make up for it.

So, he's not talking to you now?
He's angry, [but] it's not like we're never going to talk again. He's really pissed off about the show. So he doesn’t want to talk to me right now. He's just mad. He doesn't like watching the show. He doesn't like the arguing, the cursing.

Don't you want to say, "Who are you to give me etiquette lessons?"
No, even though he did that, he always wanted better for me. It's not like he's not talking to me because he doesn't want anything ever to do with me. He feels like I'm bigger than that. It's not that he’s saying it because he's judging me; he's saying it because he cares about me. It's two different things.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[speedyguy]

11:43 PM on 02/28/2012

I saw on fox news this weekend that her fathers victims are trying to change the son of sam law, to prevent criminals and their offspring from profiting off murder. They even launched a website, good for them! its about time the true victims are heard. http://www.unitedcrimevictims.com/americas-news-hq-mafia-victims-families-fight-back/

[mobwars]

10:44 PM on 02/16/2012

Your Dad ratting was worse than him killing, are you serious!! I feel sorry for you.. you use pictures of Victims to sell your story, Its pathetic and SAD. i dont care how much $$ your making on mobwives or going to make on your book..You have given up your DIGNITY,self respect, and you have exploited HORRIBLE pictures of the people your father killed..If you were doing a book you should have the RESPECT for those those families and keep those pictures out of it. Your views on that life are deranged!! Twisted!! Your book should have been about your life and how it destroyed yours families and other families not to GLORIFY. All you girls on Mobwives make me sick! And I stay true to my words, Your not Mobwives and the show is a discrace. America is intrigued by the mob,only the people who watch did not get a brother father uncle etc..whacked by a GANGSTER, or their grandparents robbed by a stock frauder, or their bank accounts depleated by a bank robbery.. So to all the people that watch you unless your a victim and you SUFFER due to the mob yes you are something to watch its like the old saying Karen You Cant help BUT watch A TRAIN WRECK!! Sorry you girls had to make your selves look like trash to make $$$..Guess you only know ONE way!! Take care..LINDA SCARPA
Like · · 21 hours ago ·

[jannaM]

07:16 AM on 02/16/2012

If I ever found out my dad was a mob killer, that would be the end of our relationship. These women want you to just understand their point of view, but their point of view is that this is okay. Uh, no thanks. I've never seen a trashier a bunch of women... and I've seen "Flavor of Love". LOL

[rowdiman]

11:07 PM on 02/15/2012

I almost feel sorry for this chick, almost.

[lthrnck68]

04:59 AM on 02/15/2012

Well, swhe is NOT a star. There are no stars on any reality shows. Unless they have had a orevious career in entertainment or sports. At best, these reality show people can be called celebrities. Best solution of all? Cancel them all and put on some real entertainment. That or put them all on one channel so we can avoid them all and still keep the reality show junkies happy.

[dmm1047]

04:23 PM on 02/14/2012

This whole show is a joke. Mobsters kept their families in the dark, so these frauds haven't any idea what the MOB is all about. Both Karen and Ramona stated that they knew nothing of their father's and grandfather's mob life until they in their teens. Most of these ladies, if not all, are operating from what they've heard on the street, what they've read and/or what they've seen in movies. Drita is the biggest fraud of all. She hasn't an ounce of Italian blood in her, yet comes out, guns blazing, with this constant tough talk and "going to war" stuff. Her hubby is a bank robber. Hardly anything the "mob" is known for. She's some example for her young daughters, huh? Ramona? The granddaughter of "Lefty guns" Ruggerio. Now let me make an assumption here. If she was married to a Jordanian, then I have to assume that with the name Rizzo, her mother is her connection to Lefty Guns. As far as I'm concerned, that puts Ramona the furthest from " the lifestyle." Carla's hubby, if I'm right, got nailed for stocks fraud or theft. Another "pinch" that's hardly a mob MO. So, in short, all these women are trying to live life through a relative or what they perceive is "the lifestyle" of the mob. It's all fake. They haven't a clue.

[maybesomeday]

09:38 AM on 02/16/2012

You pretty much sum it all up. They aren't mob wives, at most their connection to the mob is through other family members.

By having this show on tv and acting like the ignorant fools that they are they don't realize how they got the clothes on their backs, or all the goodies they got growing up and now to flaunt it on a show is a disgrace.

These mobsters kill people, they rob honest businessmen, they deal drugs, prositution, gambling, anything to put money in their pockets and we are suppose to idolize that behavior?

Countless families have lost loved one's because of these flithy cavones. They represent all that is wrong with their society. And if you watch an episode they bring on this drama acting like punks and not the mother's that they are.

Obviously not very imporant people since there are only a few comments here too!

[lezahgg]

04:19 PM on 02/21/2012

I think Karen is a major opportunist. The movies and television have romanticized these gangsters and I'm really curious to see the spinoff about the Chicago mob wives because the "mob" has not been prominent in Chicago headlines for quite a few years so they have been keeping a very low profile. I would imagine that the Chicago version will be even more fictionalized and perhaps scripted because of this and also because Midwesterners, even Chicagoans, have less of an "in your face" style of interaction.