During Salvatore Bonanno's trial, he gave interviews to author Gay Talese that formed part of the basis of his 1971 true crime book "Honor Thy Father". Joseph Bonanno was initially infuriated by the book and refused to speak to Salvatore for a year. By the late 1970s, however, Bonanno's attitude had changed; he had become interested in writing an autobiography to offer his own take on his life. Bonanno's book was published in 1983 as "A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno". Bonanno justified his decision to write "A Man of Honor" on the grounds that omertà represented a lifestyle and tradition greater than the code of silence it is generally understood to be: as he had not been compelled to reveal his secrets by becoming an informant or government witness, Bonanno reasoned, he did not violate his code of honor. Bonanno's editor for "A Man of Honor" was publisher Michael Korda who said of Bonnano, "In a world where most of the players were, at best, semiliterate, Bonanno read poetry, boasted of his knowledge of the classics, and gave advice to his cohorts in the form of quotes from Thucydides or Machiavelli."