Yogi Sayings; The Outfit in Chicago; Book on Cons and Scams New at GBC

As the book jacket describes the work, it's in 26 chapters, "one for each letter from A to Z," which allows Yogi to "examine the words, the meaning," from "a kid from St. Louis who grew up to be the consummate Yankee and the ultimate Yogi." It's a treasury of inspired and inspired Yogi-isms such as: "You can observe a lot by watching," reminding us to be open to the possibility of surprise and wonder in the world around us. Or simply, "Congratulations‹I knew the record would stand until it was broken." And the ultimate "Pair up in threes."

Gus Russo's analysis of the Chicago mob in the shaping of modern America is titled The Outfit (550 pages, hardbound,$35). It's a hefty book with 36 pages of references and index and it's illustrated.

Major attention is devoted to men like Tony Accardo, Joey Aiuppa, Willie Bioff, Luis Campagna, Al Capone, Frank Costello, Momo Giancana, Jake Guzik, Virginia Hill, Jimmy Hoffa, Murray The Camel) Humphreys, the Kennedy family, Sid Koshak, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, Frank Nitti, Johnny Rosselli,

Bugsy Siegel, Frank Sinatra, and Johnny Torrio.

Las Vegas plays a major role in the book, including mob influence in the city including investments; while the FBI, a variety of investigations and an overall history of organized crime comprise the book's backbone. It's like an encyclopedia of organized crime with a spotlight on Chicago, and well researched by a top investigative reporter.

Frank Abagnale, whose first book, Catch Me If You Can, will soon be a major motion picture, is a reformed con man and hustler who is now in the business of helping detect scams and how they work. His latest book is titled The Art of the Steal (225 pages, paperbound, $14) and this past master of the con shows how the cunning, deceptive crooks operate in regard to identity theft; how to create forge-proof documents and spot phonies immediately; how to prevent goods from being counterfeited; how to safely use access codes, credit, debit and ATM cards.

He describes ripoffs at home, at work, online, in banking, while traveling, shopping or even on the phone. Simply, this is a book which will probably save you money in the long run, by making you more alert to existing scams and how some of the nation's most sophisticated crooks operate against the unwary.

(This book is available along with all others reviewed here at Gambler's Book Shop, 630 South 11th St., Las Vegas, NV 89101. Call 1-800-522-1777 to order via MasterCard, VISA or Discover card (no American Express or CODs). Call from 9-5 Pacific time, Mon.-Sat. You can see 1,000 other books, videos and software in 30 areas of gambling by going to the store's web site where you may also order. Go to www.gamblersbook.com. If you'd like a hard copy of the 80-page catalog, ask and a copy will be sent first class at no charge. The store is now in its 38th year of operation and located a mile from Downtown, just a block off Charleston Boulevard and block west of Maryland Parkway.)