Things Left Unsaid
My Dad, the Mob, and Growing Up in the Nevada Gaming Industry
The moving memoir Things Left Unsaid embodies a son’s respect for his complicated father.
Glenn E. Wichinsky’s exploratory memoir Things Left Unsaid is about a late-in-life discovery that compelled him to rewrite his entire history.
Wichinsky spent little time with his father after his parents divorced. Their brief visits exposed him to his father’s active professional life in the gaming industry, including through his senior executive positions at the Sands Hotel and Casino and his pioneering work in the development of slot machines. Later, Wichinsky followed his own twisted professional path. During several periods, this entailed joining his father in business, though he questioned the minor roles that he was assigned.
In general, Wichinsky’s father kept him at a distance. This persisted until Wichinsky obtained his law degree, after which his father asked for his legal assistance in gaining licenses. He was also tapped to defend his father when he was accused of illegal activity within the gaming industry. The later discovery of his father’s extensive involvement with the mafia caused Wichinsky to reassess everything he knew about the man.
Those important to Wichinsky’s life from his childhood onward are fleshed out in great detail. This is particularly true of his father, his sister, his brother, and his wife. Those outside of his family serve more as accessories to Wichinsky’s professional and personal story, though; there are questions about what they knew or didn’t know about Wichinsky’s father, or credit is given regarding the stability they provided to Wichinsky after his father’s death.
The memoir is arranged chronologically, tracing events from Wichinsky’s early youth into his middle age in a thorough manner. Each event is described in minute detail, with information extending to people’s clothing choices, hairstyles, and the cars of the moment. Indeed, the prose, though it is clear, reflects minimal filtering. At times, the memoir reads like an oral history, without a great deal of discernment regarding which events were pivotal or took an emotional toll and which were incidental.
The changes in Wichinsky’s story arrive quite late in the memoir, and they are somewhat without nuance. Indeed, the book is assertive about Wichinsky’s continued respect for his father to the end, expressing gratitude for the efforts he made to keep Wichinsky out of the messier side of the family business. When Wichinsky asked to get more involved, the book notes, his father’s “usual response was: ‘Have patience,’” pushing him off. Even after the shocking revelations regarding Wichinsky’s father’s involvement with the mafia, though, the perspective that the deceased was “a good and caring man” and “of a very special character and to be respected” remains unwavering.
An appreciative memoir about a complicated father-son relationship, Things Left Unsaid covers shocking family secrets in addition to its records of fidelity and love.
Reviewed by
Caroline Goldberg Igra
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
