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Mario Puzo

Born

in Manhattan, New York, The United States

October 15, 1920

Died

July 02, 1999

Website

http://www.mariopuzo.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Classics, Mafia

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Puzo was born in a poor family of Neapolitan immigrants living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York. Many of his books draw heavily on this heritage. After graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his poor eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties but made him a public relations officer stationed in Germany. In 1950, his first short story, The Last Christmas, was published in American Vanguard. After the war, he wrote his first book, The Dark Arena, which was published in 1955.

At periods in the 1950s and early 1960s, Puzo worked as a writer/editor for publisher Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company. Puzo, along with other writers l Puzo was born in a poor family of Neapolitan immigrants living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York. Many of his books draw heavily on this heritage. After graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his poor eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties but made him a public relations officer stationed in Germany. In 1950, his first short story, The Last Christmas, was published in American Vanguard. After the war, he wrote his first book, The Dark Arena, which was published in 1955.

At periods in the 1950s and early 1960s, Puzo worked as a writer/editor for publisher Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company. Puzo, along with other writers like Bruce Jay Friedman, worked for the company line of men's magazines, pulp titles like Male, True Action, and Swank. Under the pseudonym Mario Cleri, Puzo wrote World War II adventure features for True Action.

Puzo's most famous work, The Godfather, was first published in 1969 after he had heard anecdotes about Mafia organizations during his time in pulp journalism. He later said in an interview with Larry King that his principal motivation was to make money. He had already, after all, written two books that had received great reviews, yet had not amounted to much. As a government clerk with five children, he was looking to write something that would appeal to the masses. With a number one bestseller for months on the New York Times Best Seller List, Mario Puzo had found his target audience. The book was later developed into the film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie received 11 Academy Award nominations, winning three, including an Oscar for Puzo for Best Adapted Screenplay. Coppola and Puzo collaborated then to work on sequels to the original film, The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III.

Puzo wrote the first draft of the script for the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, which he was unable to continue working on due to his commitment to The Godfather Part II. Puzo also co-wrote Richard Donner's Superman and the original draft for Superman II. He also collaborated on the stories for the 1982 film A Time to Die and the 1984 Francis Ford Coppola film The Cotton Club.

Puzo never saw the publication of his penultimate book, Omertà, but the manuscript was finished before his death, as was the manuscript for The Family. However, in a review originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jules Siegel, who had worked closely with Puzo at Magazine Management Company, speculated that Omertà may have been completed by "some talentless hack." Siegel also acknowledges the temptation to "rationalize avoiding what is probably the correct analysis -- that [Puzo] wrote it and it is terrible."

Puzo died of heart failure on July 2, 1999 at his home in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York. His family now lives in East Islip, New York. ...more

Combine Editions
Mario Puzo’s books

Average rating: 4.29 · 537,982 ratings · 18,105 reviews · 135 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Godfather (The Godfather, #1) by Mario Puzo, Robert Thompson (Introduction), Peter Bart (Afterword) 4.39 avg rating — 430,262 ratings — published 1969 — 639 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sicilian 4.02 avg rating — 27,733 ratings — published 1984 — 210 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Don 3.88 avg rating — 18,760 ratings — published 1996 — 69 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Omerta 3.76 avg rating — 18,003 ratings — published 2000 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Family 3.85 avg rating — 14,255 ratings — published 2001 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fools Die 3.75 avg rating — 6,990 ratings — published 1978 — 107 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fortunate Pilgrim 3.88 avg rating — 5,180 ratings — published 1965 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fourth K 3.61 avg rating — 3,772 ratings — published 1990 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Six Graves to Munich 3.64 avg rating — 3,128 ratings — published 1967 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dark Arena 3.38 avg rating — 2,205 ratings — published 1955 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Mario Puzo…

Series by Mario Puzo

Mario Puzo's Mafia (7 books)
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4.31 avg rating — 507,867 ratings

The Godfather (6 books)
by

Mario Puzo

4.35 avg rating — 471,130 ratings

Quotes by Mario Puzo (?)

“I'll make him an offer he can't refuse.”
― Mario Puzo, The Godfather

1699 likes

“Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.”
― Mario Puzo, The Godfather

tags: friendship

1195 likes

“Great men are not born great, they grow great . . .”
― Mario Puzo, The Godfather

tags: greatness

1034 likes

See all Mario Puzo's quotes »

Polls

July 2017 New School Classic Poll

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, 1951, 352 pgs

46 votes, 13.3%

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, 368 pgs, 1940

35 votes, 10.1%

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, 647 pgs, 1981

33 votes, 9.5%

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, 1967, 192 pgs

28 votes, 8.1%

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, 1994, 607 pgs

27 votes, 7.8%

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, 1945, 185 pgs

26 votes, 7.5%

The Godfather by Mario Puzo, 448 pgs, 1969

25 votes, 7.2%

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, 1930, 267 pgs

23 votes, 6.6%

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, 1980, 416 pgs

22 votes, 6.4%

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, 1996, 636 pgs

17 votes, 4.9%

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, 1992, 320

14 votes, 4.0%

The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata, 1954, 189 pgs

13 votes, 3.8%

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, 1946, 335 pgs

11 votes, 3.2%

The Sea Wolf by Jack London, 1904, 425 pgs

10 votes, 2.9%

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, 1920, 454 pgs

9 votes, 2.6%

Independent People by Halldór Laxness, 482 pgs, 1934

4 votes, 1.2%

Creation by Gore Vidal, 1981, 574 pgs

3 votes, 0.9%

The Street by Ann Petry, 1946, 435

0 votes, 0.0%

346 total votes

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