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The Godfather
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The Godfather Hardcover - 1969

by Puzo, Mario

  • Used
  • Good
  • Hardcover

Reissued to coincide with the September Random House release of The Last Don, here is the sweeping saga of a family and of its leader, a friendly and reasonable man who just happens to be the deadliest gang leader in the Cosa Nostra.

Description

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. Book Club Edition. Hardcover. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket in acceptable condition. Book club edition. Shelf and handling wear to cover and binding, with general signs of previous use. VINTAGE PRINTING. CLEAN COVER AND CONTENT PAGES. New protective mylar applied to dust jacket before shipping. Secure packaging for safe delivery.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Used - Good
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Details

  • Title The Godfather
  • Author Puzo, Mario
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition Book Club Edition
  • Condition Used - Good
  • Pages 448
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York
  • Date 1969
  • Features Dust Cover
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 1755342313
  • ISBN 9780399103421 / 0399103422
  • Weight 1.21 lbs (0.55 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.68 x 5.89 x 1.37 in (22.05 x 14.96 x 3.48 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Mid-Atlantic
    • Cultural Region: Northeast U.S.
    • Geographic Orientation: New York
    • Locality: New York, N.Y.
  • Library of Congress subjects Mystery fiction, New York (N.Y.)
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 69011465
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About this book

The Godfather is a classic crime novel by Mario Puzo, detailing the story of a fictional Mafia family in New York in the 1940s and 1950s. This novel introduced America to the first family of crime fiction - the Corleones, and it remains a classic in American popular culture. Power, greed, and family loyalty all play out in this portrayal of the mafia underworld. Author Mario Puzo wrote the book based on his personal need for the cash advance, and the paperback rights for The Godfather went on to sell for a record $410,000. The mega-blockbuster 1972 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola featured Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and James Caan, among others.

Summary

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.

From the publisher

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.

First Edition Identification

First editions of The Godfather were published by G.P. Putnam Sons in 1969. The original first edition dust jackets will have a print stamp of $6.95 on the front flap and 6903 on the bottom, indicating it was printed in March of 1969. The back flap has three reviews for The Dark Arena and two reviews of The Fortunate Pilgrim.

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About the author

The son of Italian immigrants who moved to the Hell's Kitchen area of New York City, Mario Puzo was born on October 15, 1920. After World War II, during which he served as a U.S. Army corporal, he attended City College of New York on the G.I. Bill and worked as a freelance writer. During this period he wrote his first two novels The Dark Arena (1955) and The Fortunate Pilgrim (1965).

When his books made little money despite being critically acclaimed, he vowed to write a bestseller. The Godfather (1969) was an enormous success. He collaborated with director Francis Ford Coppola on the screenplays for all three Godfather movies and won Academy Awards for both The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather, Part II (1974). He also collaborated on the scripts for such films as Superman (1978), Superman II (1981), and The Cotton Club (1984). He continued to write phenomenally successful novels, Including Fools Die (1978), The Sicilian (1984), The Fourth K (1991), and The Last Don (1996). Mario Puzo died on July 2, 1999. His final novel, Omerta, was published in 2000.

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