It's clear right away – long before the woman sitting up front asks, “Did you shoot anyone?” – that this guy with the straight-out-of-central-casting Brooklyn accent and gold chain is not your typical college lecturer.

It's clear from Michael Franzese's life story – the 17 years in the mafia, the millions upon millions of ill-gotten gains, the “Yuppie Don” nickname, the prison term – that he is a breed apart from the professors usually addressing this crowd.