Puzo is of course best known for books on the Mafia. This is not one. This is a delightfully whimsical story about DavieShaw, who at eleven years old is so responsible that his parents leave him home alone while they take a round-the-world cruise. A series of mischances makes it necessary for Davie to travel, alone except for a pony named Mustang, across the country to meet them in New York.

He meets a number of remarkable characters on the journey, and we are treated to many delightful revelations, such as the fact that no man with a beard will refuse the request of another bearded man, and the contextually appropriate Zen koan:

You can get kicked in the behind, Anytime.

The book is out of print and hard to find, but I recommend it strongly. I loved it at eight years old, and I still do.

I've read and reread "The Godfather" and enjoyed it everytime. I'm sorry to say I found "The Last Don" weak andunconvincing. I even at times start to wonder if the Mafia lingo is real or if he's making it up. Early in the book, he says killing where the body is intended to be found are "confirmations," ones where it is intended not to be found are "communions." Then, throughout the book, over and over, whenever a killing is contemplated someone says something about whether it's to be "a communion or a confirmation." Maybe we're to assume this is Clericuzio family language, not shared by other Mafia families? Reads like Puzo is imitating Richard Condon imitating Puzo.

The Last Don is not the book the Godfather is, but it is the next best thing. Easy to read and hard to put down. A return visit to "the Families" is fascinating, and "dance to the bottom of the ocean" is as memorable and usable as "sleeps with the fishes". I found the incredible wealth, beauty and sex of the Hollywood characters a little boring, but the story lines hang together well. After seeing an interview with Mario Puzo and reading the book, I have a theory. I think Puzo is telling us about his own experience with Hollywood taking over his characters, particularly in Godfather II and, ech! Godfather III. I think Domenico Clericuzio is Vito Corleone guiding the Family to the destiny he and Michael envisioned, instead of the "crime never pays" copout of Hollywood.

The more books I read by Mario Puzo the more I become convinced that the literary world lost one of it's best authors. With his unique ability to fully immerse his readers into his worlds he truly has talent that few authors do. This is the second book in his Mafia series, the first being The Godfather. This one is quite different from that in that The Godfather focused more on those in charge of the Family. THis one looks more at those below, specifficly a Family hitman named Cross and the Don's grandson, Dante. The Don himself is little more then a minor carechter in this novel. At first I thought i might be a bit dissapointed by this but in the end it works brilliantly and keeps this book from being more then just a rehash of The Godfather. Instead it provides another unique point of view into the world of organized crime. For anyone who's looking for an excellent fast paced read this is definetlly the book for you.

I gather that Puzo wrote this book long before 9/11. The narrative is spooky in that it parallels that event and the conspiracies that followed. The concern for loss of civil rights; the never ending central factor of the Israel-Palestine conflict; the bombing to rubble of a middle east capital city.
All of this, read in light of what followed, would speak to Puzo's grasp of international skulduggery, long before most of us anticipated the coming tragedies. On this basis, alone, it is well worth reading.

In this novel Puzo steps out of his standard world of massive corruption (mafia), into another, politics. The book is fast moving and if you read the cover jacket it only tells about the first quarter of the book. There is much more. It is a sttory of a man who tries his best to be a decent man, but after a string of horrible events that ruin everything he has once held dear, he slowly makes the transition to "the dark side". With subtle change you watch the character of Francis Kennedy turn from a man of honor to a man of evil. Some of the elements of the book are completely unbelievable, but isn't that what fiction is for?

This is the first book by Puzo that I have ever read that didn't involve the Mafia. This book details the election of Francis Kennedy to the office of President of the United States.
He is basically elected because he is from the Kennedy line that had previously been the President. Kennedy is basically a good and decent man. After his daughter is kidnapped and killed he uses his office to gain revenge. This book is a good study on what the office of President does to Francis Kennedy.Not a bad read at all.

Mario Puzo's last book "Omerta" starts off with Don Raymond Aprile an old mafia leader, who has had his children brought up to be good citizens, and has retired himself from his old life, to seek legitimacy. When Aprile, is assasinated after coming out from his grandsons confirmation, his children are left his inhertiance, with his adopted nephew Astorre Viola getting majority share in his banks, unlike his real children however, Aprile has had Viola trained, and he is much more then a simple macaroni dealer with a love for horses. Now Viola must protect his family, from the FBI, rival mobsters, and renegade cops. Thats a very brief description of book, as it has been reviewed many times I thought it would best now to talk about how I feel about it. Some of other reviewers have mentioned that they dont feel its vintage Puzo, and some even feel he did not write this book fully. Personally I think he wrote majority of it, but its simply just not one of his better books, Puzo has written many excellent novels, it makes sense that some will not be as good as others. However I still feel that it was an entertaining read, and that Puzo added some new elements by going into different perspectives, whether it be the Sturzo brothers, Don Aprile, or FBI agent Kurt Clike, the reader gets different views. "Omerta" to me will not rank among Puzos best books but even an average Puzo novel is good compared to alot of the reading material out nowadays. 3.5

Anyone who has read Mario Puzo's Godfather and has clamored for the release of the three films on DVD, will not be disappointed with this tale. If you're a viewer of the Sopranos or just want entertainment, you will enjoy this book. But if you cannot appreciate the differences between Don Raymonde Aprile's family and Tony Soprano's, then you're missing the point.The characters, the locations and the details are all what you expect from a Puzo novel. The tale runs back and forth between the hill towns of Sicily with their simple lifestyles and traditions to the complexities of corporate law firms, FBI investigations and network television. Puzo's language is so descriptive about Sicily that you'll find yourself rereading certain passages to experience their flavor again and again. As you read the novel you will come to realize that Omerta was a way of life where secrets were kept or else.

A posthumous publication by a major literary figure presupposes these questions in the reader's mind: Did this author write this book? If so, how much of the book? Did this author receive any "help" in its writing? If so, then what was the form of this "help?"

Without doubt, master storyteller Mario Puzo has placed the capstone of his life's work in "Omerta," the final tale of the "Godfather" saga. At first glance, "Omerta" appears to be a continuation of the struggles between older and younger generations, between traditions of Sicily and America, between alleged crime families and law enforcement agencies. Early on, the story seems to collapse on itself because the narrator deprives the reader of the suspense of "whodunit."

Nevertheless, the Puzo "signature" of larger-than-life characters is stamped on every page of "Omerta." When Don Raymonde, the Sicilian scion of the Aprile family, is murdered, his adopted Sicilian son, Astorre Viola, steps up to enforce the Don's last wishes. Astorre is confronted by Don Aprile's daughter, Nicole, a corporate attorney who happens to oppose the death penalty. The "no mercy" tenet of Don Aprile is counterbalanced by the "mercy" obtained by Nicole Aprile through her pro bono work.

The text of "Omerta" is threaded with imagery and aphorisms: ". . . when one changes one's country, one must always change one's hat." The usual cast of characters appears, including Roman Catholic cardinals and priests. A close reading of the text will reward one with glimpses of Puzo's dark humor. Beyond his use of irony, one can sense self-parody, which is a hallmark of his inimitable style.

However, there are some textual clues in "Omerta" which lead one to suspect that Puzo may have changed his narrative style partway through the novel. After the early revelation of the "shooters" and their "contractor," the novel takes on an uncanny resemblance to a "police procedural." Indeed, the director of the Bureau asks, "And how is our operation 'Omerta'?" Further, the frontispiece defines "Omerta," using the "World Book Dictionary." A final quibble concerns the book cover, which is a minimalist European-style design: black letters shadowed onto a white background, with an oval of metallic red to dot the "i" in "Mario." My question is: where is the written accent for "Omertà?" Without "reading" too much into this "omission," nonetheless, I do find it to be an appropriate symbol of how "[t]he great Dons had accomplished their goals and blended gracefully into society . . . " (315).

Naturally, one cannot read this book without envisioning the sights and sounds of "the movie" and its "soundtrack." Bravo, Signor Puzo e mille grazie.

Let me start by saying that I am not a Mario Puzo fan. I do however like and enjoy his books, and I simply can't consider this one as "his".
Having said that, let me go into what I think of The Family.

To me this book was a light and easy read. Probably a little bit too light, with not as much information or detail as I would have liked, but still the history of this family makes for a good story.
The characters are not very well defined, but I guess this is due in part to the fact that two different authors wrote the book, and also to history itself, because it is much harder to know the thoughts and feelings of real people than it is to know those of whom you have created.

About the book in general, I loved reading about the Renaissance, especially in Italy, and I liked the fact that famous figures were included such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Maquiavelo.
I also enjoyed reading about the Church, about the feud for land, power and religion. I did however found the book a bit lacking, and not providing enough information to make things clear enough.

Now, about Mr. Rodrigo Borgia, even if you know the type of sins that have been committed in the name of God, this book will shock you. I couldn't believe the extremes that one person could go to, and as I kept reading I just read about more and more shocking episodes.... and about the sacrifies everyone had to make for... The Family...

All in all, an entertaining read, as long as you keep in mind that Mario Puzo wasn't there to see it come to life. Still, BRAVO to Carol Gino for making this last dream come true....

I finally read this book after receiving it for my birthday a year ago. I don't know why it took me so long to pick it up because I really enjoyed it. I ended up finishing it within a few days.

I've read books about the Borgias before and this one is probably the most sympathetic to all of them that I've seen. Puzo is able to illustrate each character's numerous faults and/or sins, but he paints a picture of background information so the reader understands why the characters behave the way they do. Puzo especially does this with Cesare, usually regarded as the most villainous of all. With Alexander VI, Puzo dismisses his various power plays for a Borgia dynasty as just a loving father who is looking out for his children's best interests.

There are a lot of characters and sometimes the numerous politial alliances are hard to keep straight. And oh so much incest. But even that is presented in a way so that it's not even all that disturbing. I enjoyed the story very much and I highly recommend this book.

I'll never forget the night I saw this book for the first time at my local bookstore.

"The man just couldn't stop writing Mafia novels," I snickered to myself as I picked it up and began to peruse it.

Well, I was only half-right. The book was about the notorious Italian Renaissance family, the Borgias. Since I've always been interested in that part of history, and wanting to know more about the Borgias (having read about them before, but not having come across a book dedicated to them), I promptly bought it.

Until I'd read _The Family_, I'd always thought Puzo modelled the Corleones, at least in part, after Joe Bonanno and his son Bill. Again, I was only partially correct. Although there are some parallels between the Corleones and the Bonanos, Puzo's real inspiration was _la famiglia Borgia_.

Like Vito Corleone, Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI, was a ruthless, powerful man with three sons and a daughter. None of them had any qualms about murdering their enemies "to protect the family."

Michael Corleone and Cesare Borgia, whom Rodrigo elevated to cardinal, were both successful in the military.

Like Michael and Fredo, Jofre Borgia had his own brother Juan (aka Giovanni) murdered.

Cesare died from many arrows, just as Sonny Corleone died in a hail of gunfire.

Lucrezia Borgia reportedly preferred to poison her enemies, reminiscent of the way Connie Corleone killed Don Altobello with a lethal canoli in _The Godfather Part III_.

And, like Michael and Connie, Cesare and Lucrezia were very, very close. Only Michael and Connie didn't have an affair with each other, let alone begin it under their father's approving eyes.

Finally, if it looks like Puzo is glorifying people who do not deserve admiration, it's because, like in _The Godfather_, he's telling the story from the protagonist's viewpoint. _The Family_ wonderful book for anyone, and a "must-have" for historical fiction fans.