“Joey Buttafuoco is a sociopath. There, I said it.” And so begins the autobiographical tale, Getting It Through My Thick Skull, by author Mary Jo Buttafuoco. Mary Jo’s story is compelling, fluid and written with direct honesty (and a good dose of Irish wit).
As almost everyone knows, Mary Jo Buttafuoco was shot in the head by Amy Fisher (aka “The Long Island Lolita”) in 1992. The story became legend and the name Buttafuoco became quite the “butt of a few” jokes. In her book, Mary Jo recounts numerous stories of her life with Joey — including a reunion between herself, Joey and Amy — but she tells them matter-of-factly. She does not paint herself in a victim’s light. She’s not trying to sell anyone on the idea that Joey is a sociopath.
Many, many years (and countless heartache later), Mary Jo’s own “aha” moment came when her son, Paul, stated that his father was a sociopath. It took that simple statement for Mary Jo to realize what had been truly going on in her marriage and her life. Mary Jo’s desire is not to trash her ex-husband, but rather educate other people to the potential sociopaths who might be in their own lives…and to do something about it.
Perhaps the number one question Mary Jo has been asked is: “Why did you stay with Joey?” The answer, simply, is this: according to her, Mary Jo didn’t know what she was dealing with then. But now, she does, and she did something about it. Getting It Through My Thick Skull is a triumphant, inspirational journey of a woman who overcame insurmountable obstacles and came out just fine. Today, Mary Jo wants to share that knowledge with the rest of the world.