The Godfather Returns

THE MISSING YEARS FROM THE GREATEST CRIME SAGA OF ALL TIME Thirty-five years ago, Mario Puzos great American tale, The Godfather , was published, and popular culture was indelibly changed. Now, in The Godfather Returns , acclaimed novelist Mark Winegardner continues the storythe years not covered in Puzos bestselling book or in Francis Ford Coppolas classic films. It is 1955. Michael Corleone has won a bloody victory in the war among New Yorks 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 Americas most powerful criminals and their loved ones, including Tom Hagen, the Corleone Familys lawyer and consigliere, who embarks on a political career in Nevada while trying to protect his brother; Francesca Corleone, daughter of Michaels late brother Sonny, who is suddenly learning her familys 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 presidencyand needs some help from his old friends; Johnny Fontane, the worlds greatest saloon singer, who ascends to new heights as a recording artist, cozying up to Washingtons power elite and maintaining a precarious relationship with notorious underworld figures; Kay Adams Corleone, who finally discovers the truth about her husband, Michaeland 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 Americas 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 Puzos mythic characters while creating several equally unforgettable characters of his own. The Godfather Returns stands on its own as a triumphin a tale about what we love, yearn for, and sometimes have reason to fear . . . family. From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. When Random announced that Winegardner, best known for the critically acclaimed mainstream saga Crooked River Burning and baseball novel The Veracruz Blues , had been hired to write a fresh Godfather novel, eyebrows arched from coast to coast. But the decision was right: this is a phenomenally entertaining, psychologically rich saga that spans the entire Godfather years imagined in novel and film by Mario Puzo (the latter via his screenplays), filling in the blanks, fleshing out the characters, focusing primarily on the time (mid 1950s-early '60s) between when Puzo's landmark novel ended and the film Godfather II begins.Few remember that Puzo began his career as a commercially failed but critically celebrated literary novelist. He wrote The Godfather with the aim of hitting bestseller lists, but his earlier training showed in that novel's reach and complexity. Just so, Winegardner brings enormous talent to bear on this popular story and its immense cast of characters, deepening Puzo's work at nearly every step. Fredo Corleone, hapless Mafia scion, emerges here as a more central, vigorous and conflicted character than in The Godfather or even the films, as do Tom Hagen (the Corleones' adopted son and erstwhile consigliere) and Johnny Fontane, Puzo's dig at Frank Sinatra. There are many new and newly fleshed out characters as well, from assorted Mob bosses (most notably Chicago's Don Louie Russo, aka Fuckface, spiritual descendant of Al Capone, and Nick Geraci, a Corleone man destined to become the Corleones' arch-enemy) to various Corleones (most notably the slain Sonny Corleone's twin daughters). There are also sharply drawn cameos of, among others and by other names, JFK, RFK and, fleetingly, Andy Warhol. But at the center of the mesmerizing, sometimes dizzying Mob conspiracies and familial tensions is, of course, the Godfather, Michael Corleoneproper heir to Vito Corleone, the last capo di tutti capi : devious, brilliant, astonishing ruthless.The book isn't perfectjust nearly so. The enormity of Winegardner's reimagining of Puzo's epic can obscure the novel's overarching story lineMichael's attempt to legitimize the Corleones' businessesand leads at times to an episodic feel. These, however, are quibbles in the face of a wholly absorbing novel that's written beautifully, with great skill and passion. Godfather fans will love this tale; Puzo himself must be raising a celestial glass and shouting a hearty "Salut'!" Let it be known that Winegardner, for his respect to the novel's antecedents and for his accomplishment, shall henceforth be known as a Man of Honor. Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks Magazine Its a tough act to follow, but somebody had to do it. Writing The Godfather is a job worthy of "Don" Vito Corleone himself, yet the task fell to novelist Winegardner, head of the creative writing program at Florida State University. Critics rarely know what to make of a new author taking over a classic work, and The Godfather Returns is no different. Some call this sequel brilliant, and praise Winegardners conscientious research, plot clarification, compelling new characters (like Francesca, one of Sonnys twin daughters), and "panoramic and cinematic" writing ( Minneapolis Star Tribune ). Other critics argue that no author, Puzo or anyone else, can capture Al Pacinos inner expressionthis may be a case where the movie will forever trump the novel. Some even call the sequel bland, visionless, and undramatic. Since its the Corleones, expect the usual pulp thrills. Copyright 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. ϡ쯦랠