Miraglia poses with the framed cover for The Glass Tower. The memoir began as a therapeutic exercise, and Miraglia hopes it will inspire others. Cayla Miraglia
Ellenton author G. G. Miraglia isn’t scared of a little conflict. Growing up in the Queens, he trained at boxing’s legendary Gleason’s Gym, hoping for a career as a prize fighter. But now he’s fighting a new battle – not in the ring, but on the page.
G. G. (Greg) Miraglia’s The Glass Tower (Newman Springs, 2022) is the writer’s account of Miraglia’s descent into, and escape out of, the so-called “family business”: a criminal enterprise helping to run one of the most powerful unions in New York City in the 1980s and 1990s. While some elements of the story have been fictionalized (such as the characters’ names), Miraglia explains, he says the events are true – and at times, pretty hair-raising.
Fighting To Survive
Like any good mob story, The Glass Tower has hits, heists, and a whole lot of heartbreak. Pulled into the life by his self-absorbed father, Miraglia describes how young Greg struggles to protect his self-respect and his soul, even as he finds himself sinking deeper in.
Told in a gritty, stream-of-consciousness narration, the story’s loaded with grim suspense. After all, says Miraglia, “I wanted to show how mobsters lived.” But it also raises some poignant questions about fathers, sons, and the things people will do when they don’t have a lot of choices.
Go Home And Write
Miraglia didn’t set out to write his own story; for years, he says, he was too busy just trying to get his life back on track. He says he struck a deal with the feds for information, after which he found a job helping to rebuild at ground zero.
“I called that my penance,” he remembers.
In 2003, the family had to leave everything behind and relocate to Florida. It wasn’t until he started seeing a therapist – ostensibly, to help with the PTSD he developed working at ground zero – that the idea to write out his story emerged.
“We’d talk about something and then she’d say, ‘Go home and write about this. I’ll see you next week’.”
The first result? “It was 1,000 pages of nonsense!” he laughs. But after some editorial work to draw out the story, he’s happy with what he was able to produce.
“I’m glad I could finally tell the truth about all this,” he says. “Nobody understood my side of the story.”
Roll With The Punches
Admittedly, says Miraglia, not everyone is happy about The Glass Tower. He says his family back in New York thinks he shouldn’t be telling this story.
But his Florida family couldn’t have been more supportive. Daughter Cayla Miraglia, a social media manager, is leading the publicity campaign for the book. Even his “grand-dog” Marty is lending a paw to Tweet out some book endorsements.
In the end, Miraglia hopes his book will inspire others. “I want people to know,” he says. “If I can survive what I did, and still stand on my feet, then you can do anything.”
