Godfather, The, is a best-selling novel by American author Mario Puzo. The novel portrays an Italian family involved in organized crime in New York City. The narrative describes the family’s fight for power against other underworld families in the United States.
The Godfather was published in 1969 and became the best-selling American novel of the 1970’s. The novel portrays the rise of Vito Corleone as the head of a crime family and the godfather of the novel’s title. Corleone’s sons, Michael and Sonny, are also central characters. Puzo said he based his novel on research and on stories he heard from his mother, an Italian immigrant, and on the streets of New York. The characters in the novel appear so true-to-life that some critics suspected Puzo had first-hand knowledge of the criminal world he described, which Puzo denied.
Critics have praised the novel for its realism and its storytelling power. However, some critics attacked the novel for portraying the criminals with too much sympathy and glamorizing the characters and their way of life. Puzo answered his critics and discussed the background of The Godfather in “The Godfather” Papers and Other Confessions (1972).
The motion-picture adaptation of The Godfather in 1972 became one of the most popular and acclaimed movies. It starred Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, Al Pacino as Michael, and James Caan as Sonny. Francis Ford Coppola directed the movie. The film set box-office records. It won the Academy Award as best picture, and Brando won as best actor. A sequel, The Godfather, Part II (1974), also won the Academy Award as best picture. Coppola won the Oscar as best director. Pacino repeated his role as Michael Corleone. Robert De Niro won the 1974 Academy Award as best supporting actor for his portrayal of the young Vito Corleone in a series of flashbacks. Pacino and Coppola returned for a second sequel, The Godfather, Part III (1990).
