“I’ll Make HIM an
Offer He Can’t
refuse…”
Mario Gianluigi Puzo: the
fatHer Of “tHe GOdfatHer”
Created by Chika “The
Girl” Okusogu
Bada-Bing, Bada-Boom; Its Done
‘Ello ladies and ‘gents, This is
Chika “The Girl” Okusogu
here to give you some info
on man, Puzo, (insert gasp
here) himself. You picking up
what I’m putting down?
Good, let’s get started.
Thesis Explanation
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Location Where Puzo was at the time
when writing or how where he had been
affected him.
Time Period During different times of his
life, Puzo would write about current events
or main themes of that time
Society  a structured community of
people bound together by similar
traditions institutions, or nationalities gave
Puzo a foundation to support his novels
10 Things You MUST Know About
Mario Puzo if You Are Going To
Leave This Classroom
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Born on October 15th, 1920 in the
Hell’s Kitchen district of Manhattan,
New York
Died July 2nd 1999 in Long Island,
New York
Best known for the mafia drama “The
Godfather”
Many novels after “The Godfather”
based on organized crime
10 Things You MUST Know About
Mario Puzo if You Are Going To Leave
This Classroom
PARENTS
(LeConti)
Maria
Was a prototype of the main character
in “The Godfather”
and “The Fortunate Pilgrim”
Antonio
Worked as a trackman for the NewYork
Central Railroad; he left the
family when Puzo was 12
10 Things You MUST Know About
Mario Puzo if You Are Going To
Leave This Classroom
Puzo was an avid gambler
 Read voraciously
 Enjoyed playing tennis
 LOVER OF ITLAIAN CRUSINE
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Early Life
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In teens, he composed short stories
During WWII, served in Germany as
public relations admin.
Met a German woman named Erkia
Lina Broske; got married in 1946;
they had 5 children
1st novel published in 1955, “Dark
Arena” topic of WWII and Germany
Mid-Life
Dark Arena did not sell well,
but had positive reviews
 2nd novel, The Fortunate
Pilgrim, was considered by
some to be Puzo’s best work,
but was not popular
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Peak of His Career
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Frustrated by Not being able
to achieve commercial
recognition, Puzo set out to
write a “blockbuster.” WHICH
IS?????
Stats and Info on “The Godfather”
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Published in 1969
Held #1 Spot on NY TIMES bestseller
list for 67 weeks (about 1 year and 3
months)
Sold over 21 MILLION COPIES
WORLDWIDE
Won many awards as a screenplay
Info on “The Godfather”
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Criticized for “Glorifying Gangsters”
but Puzo abhorred violence
Famous Line “I’ll Make an Offer He
Can’t Refuse.”
Sympathized with characters to
make the story more gripping to
readers
ITS MAFIA
TIME
Cosa Nostra
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Means “our thing”
Criminal syndicate
Italian-Exclusive
Emerged during the Mid 19th Century
in Sicily, Italy
Loose association of criminal groups
that share a common organizational
structure and code of conduct
Cosa Nostra
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Groups known as “clans” or
“families”
Mafia emerged during the Late 19th
Century in the US after waves of
Italian Emigration
American Mafia
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Emerged Along East Coast
5 Main NY Families: Gambino,
Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno,
Coloumbo
Had Families ALL OVER U.S.

Now please refer to
your Mafia
Handbook
The Godfather Summary
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The story has a plot that spans from 1945-1955; including
some back stories about some characters.
The story is wrapped around the main character,
Michael Corelone, during a mob war between the Five
Families of New York. The war is “technically” started when
Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo hired men to attack Don Vito
Corelone (the Boss of the most powerful familiy) after he
declined his offer to help support a drug ring. When the
Don is shot, his underboss and son, Santino “Sonny”
Corelone, becomes acting boss and declares war on the
Tattaglia. Changes of power lead to instability, bonds are
broken, and trust is tested. Michael is forced to undergo
different hardships throughout the story in order to bring
the Corelones back to its powerful, respected, and stable
state. Eventually at the end of this novel, the pain he went
though will not go unrewarded.
The Godfather Review
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On a scale from one to ten, I’ll give it a
FIFTEEN.
Amazing Plot Development with
Characters to Sympathize With
Verisimilitude really kept the “Italian
Mafia” feel to the novel with actual Italian
and Mafia phrases, actual locations from
the real-world to the fictional one, and
characters that seemed alive.
Final Words
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Puzo crafted an amazing novel with
themes of the corrupted “American
Dream,” the strength of family
bonds, defining justice and what is
right vs. wrong to different eyes,
Italian Identity in the USA, and gave
a new view on the Mafia by making
the reader sympathize with the
struggles of the Corelone Family as a
whole.
Novels That Puzo Wrote
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The Godfather; 1969
The Dark Arena; 1955
The Fortunate Pilgrim; 1965
The Runaway Summer of Davie Shaw; 1966
Six Graves to Munich; 1967
Fools Die; 1978
The Sicilian; 1981
The Fourth K; 1991
The Last Don; 1996
Omerta; 2000
The Familiy; 2001; completed by Carol Gino
Works Cited
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“American Mafia.” en.wikipedia.org. Wikipedia.
N.d. Web. April 17 2011
Hall, James B. "Mario Puzo." DISCovering
Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Student
Resources In Context. Web. April 15
2011.
"Mario Puzo." Newsmakers. Detroit:
Gale,
2000. Gale Student Resources In Context.
Web. 15 April 2011
“Mario Puzo.” en.wikipedia.org. Wikipedia.
N.d. Web. April 19 2011