The Godfather

The Godfather is a novel on the Sicilian mafia underworld by Mario Puzo.

Summary of the Book

Don Vito Corleone heads the Corleone crime family in New York and is the titular Godfather of the mafia. On the day of his only daughter’s wedding, Vito’s godson asks Don Corleone to help him secure a role in a movie. Vito sends his consigliere, Tom Hagen, to the studio head. When the man doesn’t budge on his self-professed morality, Don Corleone makes him an offer he can’t refuse. Vito Corleone isn’t a man who takes no for an answer, so it unnerves him that his son Michael does not want to enter the family “business.” Vito doesn’t want to leave the old way, and refuses to understand that the world is changing. He mixes his old world values with his mafia’s businesses, and soon the new competition sparks his anger. They have broken the old rules and started a business in drugs. Drugs go against the Don’s values, and this only means that he is the one thing standing in the way of the competition and a thriving business. That leaves only one solution to them: take out Don Corleone.

About Mario Puzo

Mario Puzo was an Italian American novelist. He is also remembered for The Last Don, The Sicilian, Fools Die, and Omertà.