The Godfather by Puzo, Mario - 1969

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1969 Publisher's black cloth-backed white boards, marionette design in gilt to front board, titles in gilt to spine, red endpapers; original black dust jacket with titles in white lettering, design by S. Neil Fujita. Very good or better with a touch of toning to edges, small spot of soiling to fore edge and several small stains to pg. 189; unclipped dust jacket with some small closed tears to spine ends and flap folds, and light wear to corners. Overall, a very good, attractive copy. The Godfather is Mario Puzo's groundbreaking crime classic, telling the epic story of the Mafia family, the Corleones, and Michael Corleone's rise within the family to become its ruthless Don, or "Godfather." The book was massively successful, spending 67 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller list and selling over nine million copies in two years. Puzo later wrote that he had never come into actual contact with mobsters, relying solely on research for the details of Mafia life. A number of the book's characters are based on real-life people - for example, the singer Johnny Fontane is heavily based on Frank Sinatra. The book was turned into an Academy Award winning film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. The American Film Institute ranked it as the second greatest film of all time, behind Citizen Kane. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included.