The Godfather: Amazon.ca: Mario Puzo: Books

From Amazon

The story of Don Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia family, inspired some of the most successful movies ever. It is in Mario Puzo's The Godfather that Corleone first appears. As Corleone's desperate struggle to control the Mafia underworld unfolds, so does the story of his family. The novel is full of exquisitely detailed characters who, despite leading unconventional lifestyles within a notorious crime family, experience the triumphs and failures of the human condition. Filled with the requisite valor, love, and rancor of a great epic, The Godfather is the definitive gangster novel. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Diehard Godfather fans play second banana to no other subculture in their obsession with the minutiae of Puzo's novel and Coppola's films. These dedicated fans will be most disappointed by the new audio version, although perhaps only an hour of material is missing, but casual aficionados will barely notice the abridgment. Missing are the subplot involving Sonny's mistress, Lucy Mancini, and Dr. William Kennedy and the descriptions of the regional Mafia chieftains that precede the commission meeting at which Don Corleone flushes out Don Barzini as his number one rival. Actor Joe Mantegna does a fine job throughout, largely resisting the temptation to put on voices for too many of the characters. However, this cannot be said for his Don Corleone. Perhaps it is vengeance: after all, Andy Garcia, as the late Don's nephew, Vincent Mancini, put the hit on Mantegna's Joey Zasa in Godfather III, but whatever the reason, Mantegna gives Corleone a raspy falsetto-imagine the Pillsbury Doughboy with a tracheotomy-that ranks as one of the worst Brando impressions ever. Also, Puzo's chilling ending in which Kay converts to Catholicism with the hope of saving her husband's soul is inexplicably transformed into a chamber-of-commerce-style bromide about the family's new life in Nevada. Still, the popularity of Puzo's novel 27 years after its publication makes this abridgment a must-have.
Adam Mazmanian, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'As for fiction, there can only be one choice - The Godfather", The Times .'The Godfather, one of the most entertaining and absorbing popular novels of the postwar period... Puzo's masterpiece', Robert McCrum in the Observer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

When Mario Puzo's blockbuster saga, The Godfather, was first published in 1969, critics hailed it as one of the greatest novels of our time, and "big, turbulent, highly entertaining." Since then, The Godfather has gone on to become a part of America's national culture, as well as a trilogy of landmark motion pictures. From the lavish opening scene where Don Corleone entertains guests and conducts business at his daughter's wedding...to his son, Michael, who takes his father's place to fight for his family...to the bloody climax where all family business is finished, The Godfather is an epic story of family, loyalty, and how "men of honor" live in their own world, and die by their own laws.

About the Author

Mario Puzo was born on Manhattan’s West Side in the neighborhood known as Hell’s Kitchen. His first books, The Fortunate Pilgrim (“a minor classic” New York Times) and Dark Arena, brought him critical acclaim, but it was the publication of The Godfather in March 1969 that catapulted him into the front ranks of American authors. Reviewers hailed the book as “a staggering triumph” (Saturday Review), “big, turbulent, highly entertaining” (Newsweek), “remarkable” (Look), and “a voyeur’s dream, a skillful fantasy of violent personal power” (New York Times). Winning readers by the millions, it stayed at or near the top of the New York Times bestseller lists for sixty-nine weeks. His follow-up novel, Fools Die (1978), was hailed as the publishing event of the decade. Puzo’s last novel, Omerta, was finished shortly before his death in 1999.

From AudioFile

Brilliance Audio's reissue of this 1986 production features a full cast. As Vito Corleone directs his powerful New York crime family, a reader delivers the narrative text, and individual actors take over for the dialogue. But the use of a cast is not a gimmick. It's a dramatic device. The cast infuses each character with emotion and personality, giving the work more of a sense of theater than a simple reading. Thus, the narration exploits the very nature of audiobooks to present a special work. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.