Books about Godfather from Amazon.com

The story of Don Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia family, inspired some of the most successful movies ever. It is in Mario Puzo's The Godfather that Corleone first appears As Corleone's desperate struggle to control the Mafia underworld unfolds, so does the story of his family. The novel is full of exquisitely detailed characters who, despite leading unconventional lifestyles within a notorious crime family, experience the triumphs and failures of the human condition. Filled with the requisite valor, love, and rancor of a great epic, The Godfather is the definitive gangster novel..
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This fully authorized, annotated, and illustrated edition of the complete screenplay of The Godfather presents all the little-known details and behind-the-scenes intrigue surrounding the landmark film.

The Godfather is considered by many to be the greatest movie ever made, from its brilliant cinematic innovations and its memorable, oft-quoted script to it magnificent cast, including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, and others who are now among the most celebrated actors of our time. And yet, the history of its making is so colorful, so chaotic, that one cannot help but marvel at the seemingly insurmountable odds it overcame to become a true cinematic masterpiece, a film that continues to captivate us decades after its release.

Now, thirty-five years after The Godfather's highly anticipated debut, comes this fully authorized, annotated, and illustrated edition of the complete screenplay. Virtually every scene is examined including:

• Fascinating commentary on technical details about the filming and shooting locations
• Tales from the set, including the arguments, the accidents, and the practical jokes
• Profiles of the actors and stories of how they were cast
• Deleted scenes that never made the final cut
• Goofs and gaffes that did
• And much more

Interviews with former Paramount executives, cast and crew members—from the producer to the makeup artist—and director Francis Ford Coppola round out the commentary and shed new light on everything you thought you knew about this most influential film. The more than 200 photographs from the film, from behind-the-scenes, and from the cutting room floor make this a visual feast for every Godfather fan..
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THE MISSING YEARS FROM THE GREATEST CRIME SAGA OF ALL TIME

Thirty-five years ago, Mario Puzo’s great American tale, The Godfather, was published, and popular culture was indelibly changed. Now, in The Godfather Returns, acclaimed novelist Mark Winegardner continues the story–the years not covered in Puzo’s bestselling book or in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic films.

It is 1955. Michael Corleone has won a bloody victory in the war among New York’s crime families. Now he wants to consolidate his power, save his marriage, and take his family into legitimate businesses. To do so, he must confront his most dangerous adversary yet, Nick Geraci, a former boxer who worked his way through law school as a Corleone street enforcer, and who is every bit as deadly and cunning as Michael. Their personal cold war will run from 1955 to 1962, exerting immense influence on the lives of America’s most powerful criminals and their loved ones, including

Tom Hagen, the Corleone Family’s lawyer and consigliere, who embarks on a political career in Nevada while trying to protect his brother;

Francesca Corleone, daughter of Michael’s late brother Sonny, who is suddenly learning her family’s true history and faces a difficult choice;

Don Louie Russo, head of the Chicago mob, who plays dumb but has wily ambitions for muscling in on the Corleones’ territory;

Peter Clemenza, the stalwart Corleone underboss, who knows more Family secrets than almost anyone;

Ambassador M. Corbett Shea, a former Prohibition-era bootlegger and business ally of the Corleones’, who wants to get his son elected to the presidency–and needs some help from his old friends;

Johnny Fontane, the world’s greatest saloon singer, who ascends to new heights as a recording artist, cozying up to Washington’s power elite and maintaining a precarious relationship with notorious underworld figures;

Kay Adams Corleone, who finally discovers the truth about her husband, Michael–and must decide what it means for their marriage and their children and

Fredo Corleone, whose death has never been fully explained until now, and whose betrayal of the Family was part of a larger and more sinister chain of events.

Sweeping from New York and Washington to Las Vegas and Cuba, The Godfather Returns is the spellbinding story of America’s criminal underworld at mid-century and its intersection with the political, legal, and entertainment empires. Mark Winegardner brings an original voice and vision to Mario Puzo’s mythic characters while creating several equally unforgettable characters of his own. The Godfather Returns stands on its own as a triumph–in a tale about what we love, yearn for, and sometimes have reason to fear . . . family.


From the Hardcover edition..
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The inside story of the don and the family who may have inspired The Godfather.

As head of the Bonanno clan, Joey Massino was the last don, and ran his world with an iron hand--until he got hit with a murder rap, and turned on his own people. Here, for the first time, is his shocking true story--a glimpse inside the world of organized crime that we may never see again..
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Al Capone may have ruled Chicago Lucky Luciano may have run most of New York City. But from the 1930s to the late 1960s, when it came to Harlem, the undisputed king of the underworld was Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson

He was called an old-fashioned gentleman. He was called a pimp. A philanthropist and a thief. A scholar and a thug. A man who admonished children to stay in school, and a man who some say introduced heroin into Harlem.

Bumpy was a man whose contradictions are still the root of many an argument in Harlem. But there is one thing on which both his supporters and detractors agree in his lifetime, Bumpy was the man in Harlem.

If you wanted to do anything in Harlem, anything at all, you'd better stop and see Bumpy because he ran the place. Want to open a number spot on the Avenue? Go see Bumpy. Thinking about converting your brownstone into a speakeasy? Check with Bumpy first.

The police knew it they came to him to negotiate peace between young street gangs. The politicians knew it they counted on him to deliver votes on Election Day. Even the Italian and Jewish syndicate knew it, although they had to find out the hard way.

Harlem Godfather: The Rap On My Husband, Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson is the first complete biography of a man who for years was Harlem s best kept, and most cherished secret.

The book is written by Bumpy's widow, Mayme Johnson, and details not only his criminal life and relationships, but also his close relationships with Harlem luminaries like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Joe Lewis, Sidney Poitier, Bill Bojangles Robinson, and Sugar Ray Robinson to name a few.

This book also details Bumpy's relationship Harlem dopedealer with Frank Lucas, who has called himself Bumpy's right-hand man, but was -- according to Mrs. Johnson -- little more than a flunky..
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The original 1969 bestseller that became a landmark event in American popular culture

An American crime boss pursuing the mantle of legitimacy...A former top man on the run...The ambitious brother of a galvanizing young President...A New Orleans capo out for revenge...An Irish consigliere plunged into mortal peril. Five lives on a collision course with tragedy that will make history and shock the world-an unforgettable capstone to Mario Puzo's great American epic..
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