A Memoir

GOD,
GUTS &
GOODFELLAS

From Roxbury DJ to Goodfellas family ties.

A raw story of loyalty, addiction, loss, and redemption.

"This book wasn't written to settle scores, offer lessons, or ask for understanding. It's a record of what I lived, what I did, and what I survived."

Some people will see themselves here and wish they didn't. Some will feel exposed. Others will feel nothing at all. I'm not trying to protect anyone, including myself. Time has already done enough damage.

What remains is the truth as I remember it — incomplete, uncomfortable, and mine.

The Book

This is not a redemption story.
It's a record.

Growing up between New York and Southern California, Troy DeSimone learned early that loyalty came with rules, consequences, and silence. Raised in the shadow of crime, family legends, street codes, and unspoken debts, his life unfolded at the intersection of danger, music, survival, and responsibility.

From Queens block parties and California classrooms to nightclubs, arrests, addiction, and loss, God, Guts & Goodfellas traces a raw coming-of-age shaped by violence, hustle, and the constant pull between who you are and who you're expected to be.

The story doesn't flinch from its darkest moments—nor does it romanticize them.

What emerges is not an apology or a confession, but an honest account of a life lived inside pressure: the cost of loyalty, the weight of family history, and the long work of rebuilding when everything you thought defined you falls away.

This is what it looked like from the inside.

God, Guts & Goodfellas book cover - A Memoir by Troy DeSimone

About the Author

Troy DeSimone

Troy DeSimone grew up between New York and Southern California, shaped by family ties to organized crime, street culture, and the music scene that defined the 80s and 90s.

A graduate of Musicians Institute, Troy spent decades as a DJ, producer, and studio builder—working with bands like Goon, producing tracks for Hip-Hop Shawn, and spinning at clubs from Hollywood to Orange County. His first paying gig was a backyard party in El Monte where Fergie showed up and a shootout broke out in the street.

After a seizure changed everything, Troy deepened his faith, confronted his past, and began writing. God, Guts & Goodfellas is the result—a memoir that doesn't flinch, doesn't apologize, and doesn't pretend the scars aren't there.

Today, Troy works from his music studio, cares for his mother with dementia, and continues creating music and content that reflects real life without sugarcoating it.

Coming Soon

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