Mario
Puzo
He is known as the “The Godfather of Mafia Fiction.” His nickname is also the namesake of his most popular work The Godfather, known around the world for its depiction of loyalty to friends and family, and its insight into the lifestyle of the original crime families. This man is Mario Puzo. The success of The Godfather was s popular it was turned into three films. Even years after it was first released The Godfather is still being recognized as one of the best-selling books of all time.
Born October 15, 1920 in “Hell’s Kitchen” Manhattan, Puzo spent the majority of his childhood in the library and working on the railroad with his brothers. His parents were immigrants from Italy that believed in hard labor for your dime, so when Puzo became fascinated by the literary world his mother, to say the least, was not happy. But, Puzo continued on with his passion though never focused on it much during his childhood. After graduating from Commerce High School he worked as a railroad switchboard attendant. But he was soon called away to join the US Air Force during WWII. He served many years and was very decorated earning many medals though he never fired a shot due to his poor eyesight. He soon returned home to attend New York’s New School for Social Research and Columbia University; there he took classes in literature and creative writing. His next job was working as an Administrative Assistant working overseas and in New York for twenty years.
Puzo’s writing career was a little rough at first. His first stories were never published but he wrote many of them. One story called “The Last Christmas” was the first of his to ever be published. But his first actual book came in 1955, The Dark Arena. This was a tale of the relationship between Walter Mosca, a tough and embittered ex-GI, and Hella, a German native. The novel received a good review. His second book The Fortunate Pilgrim also got a good review but neither one of his first two novels helped in his current financial crunch. His third book which is most definitely the most famous of them all is The Godfather. This novel spurred 3 movie adaption’s, was number one on the best-seller list for 67 weeks in a row! The story of The Godfather it took a total of 5 years to write it, then Puzo gave it to his publisher to hold on to while he went to Europe and he said “I've got to do one more rewrite”. Well when Puzo came back The Godfather was already published and was getting a lot of publicity. Everyone who read it was immediately captivated by the tale of the Italian crime family the Corleones. Puzo was upset at the betrayal by his publisher and says “I always wish I'd written it better… but when I came back they had sold the book for $450,000 to a paperback publisher, I didn't dare rewrite it. I figured they would take their money back, they wouldn't like it.” The Godfather was Puzo’s most famous book, but his other books like Fool’s Die, The Sicilian, The Fourth K, The Last Don, Omerta, and The Family all are focused around Italians and crime namely the Mafia and each one was very popular though none were as popular as The Godfather. Puzo says that his interest in the mafia began as a child when he grew up wanting to be a Don. He uses this lifetime interest as a basis to start researching actual crime families the Borgia Family in his opinion is the original crime family and that he uses that information that he gathers in his actual story.
Mario Puzo died July 2, 1999 at age 79. Two of his books Omerta and The Family which was finished by his wife Carol Gino were published after his death. He leaves behind a wife, two daughters and three sons. He truly lives on in his legacy of The Godfather.
allowed him to publish more renditions of the Italian mafia and is place in the world years ago.
He is known as the “The Godfather of Mafia Fiction.” His nickname is also the namesake of his most popular work The Godfather, known around the world for its depiction of loyalty to friends and family, and its insight into the lifestyle of the original crime families. This man is Mario Puzo. The success of The Godfather was s popular it was turned into three films. Even years after it was first released The Godfather is still being recognized as one of the best-selling books of all time.
Born October 15, 1920 in “Hell’s Kitchen” Manhattan, Puzo spent the majority of his childhood in the library and working on the railroad with his brothers. His parents were immigrants from Italy that believed in hard labor for your dime, so when Puzo became fascinated by the literary world his mother, to say the least, was not happy. But, Puzo continued on with his passion though never focused on it much during his childhood. After graduating from Commerce High School he worked as a railroad switchboard attendant. But he was soon called away to join the US Air Force during WWII. He served many years and was very decorated earning many medals though he never fired a shot due to his poor eyesight. He soon returned home to attend New York’s New School for Social Research and Columbia University; there he took classes in literature and creative writing. His next job was working as an Administrative Assistant working overseas and in New York for twenty years.
Puzo’s writing career was a little rough at first. His first stories were never published but he wrote many of them. One story called “The Last Christmas” was the first of his to ever be published. But his first actual book came in 1955, The Dark Arena. This was a tale of the relationship between Walter Mosca, a tough and embittered ex-GI, and Hella, a German native. The novel received a good review. His second book The Fortunate Pilgrim also got a good review but neither one of his first two novels helped in his current financial crunch. His third book which is most definitely the most famous of them all is The Godfather. This novel spurred 3 movie adaption’s, was number one on the best-seller list for 67 weeks in a row! The story of The Godfather it took a total of 5 years to write it, then Puzo gave it to his publisher to hold on to while he went to Europe and he said “I've got to do one more rewrite”. Well when Puzo came back The Godfather was already published and was getting a lot of publicity. Everyone who read it was immediately captivated by the tale of the Italian crime family the Corleones. Puzo was upset at the betrayal by his publisher and says “I always wish I'd written it better… but when I came back they had sold the book for $450,000 to a paperback publisher, I didn't dare rewrite it. I figured they would take their money back, they wouldn't like it.” The Godfather was Puzo’s most famous book, but his other books like Fool’s Die, The Sicilian, The Fourth K, The Last Don, Omerta, and The Family all are focused around Italians and crime namely the Mafia and each one was very popular though none were as popular as The Godfather. Puzo says that his interest in the mafia began as a child when he grew up wanting to be a Don. He uses this lifetime interest as a basis to start researching actual crime families the Borgia Family in his opinion is the original crime family and that he uses that information that he gathers in his actual story.
Mario Puzo died July 2, 1999 at age 79. Two of his books Omerta and The Family which was finished by his wife Carol Gino were published after his death. He leaves behind a wife, two daughters and three sons. He truly lives on in his legacy of The Godfather.
allowed him to publish more renditions of the Italian mafia and is place in the world years ago.
