The Godfather.

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. First edition of Puzo's definitive novel of the Mafia underworld. Octavo, original half black cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Mel and Jessie See what you're missing in New York? Mario." The recipient, Mel Shestack was a writer and close friend of the author, who hired Puzo as an associate editor to write for Magazine Management, giving him an early break in the industry. Fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket art by S. Neil Fujita. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. An exceptional association. A searing novel of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and the powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor that was passed on from father to son. "A voyeur's dream, a skillful fantasy of violent personal power" (New York Times). It was made into the 1972 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. It was the highest-grossing film of 1972 and was for a time the highest-grossing film ever made. It won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Puzo and Coppola). Its seven other Oscar nominations included Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1990, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and is ranked the second-greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute. It was followed by sequels The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990).