The Family Corleone

by Ed Falco

Overview

New York, 1933. The city and the nation are in the depths of the Great Depression. The crime families of New York have prospered in this time, but with the coming end of Prohibition, a battle is looming that will determine which organizations will rise and which will face a violent end.
For Vito Corleone, nothing is more important that his family's future. While his youngest children, Michael, Fredo, and Connie, are in school, unaware of their father's true occupation, and his adopted son Tom Hagen is a college student, he worries most about Sonny, his eldest child. Vito pushes Sonny to be a businessman, but Sonny-17 years-old, impatient and reckless-wants something else: To follow in his father's footsteps and become a part of the real family business.
An exhilarating and profound novel of tradition and violence, of loyalty and betrayal, The Family Corleone will appeal to the legions of fans who can never get enough of The Godfather, as well as introduce it to a whole new generation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455521616
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	05/08/2012
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	9,443
File size:	843 KB

About the Author

Ed Falco is the author of three novels, four story collections, and numerous plays, poems, essays, and critical reviews. Among his many awards and honors are an NEA fiction fellowship, and the Southern Review's Robert Penn Warren Prize. He is a professor of English at Virginia Tech, where he directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing.

Editorial Reviews

Set in the depths of the Great Depression, this Godfather prequel possesses both the authenticity of the Mario Puzo screenplay on which it is based and the force of novelist Ed Falco's prose. As it unfolds, we witness the personalities of key characters developing under stress. As hard-pressed Mafia boss Vito Corleone attempts to shield his sons from the intrinsic mayhem of his profession, his sons Sonny and Michael, and his adopted son Tom Hagen learn by trial and error to become the people fiction readers and moviegoers already know. A step back to see the future. Now in mass-market paperback and NOOK Book.

Based on an unpublished Mario Puzo screenplay, Falco’s solid Godfather prequel fills in the backstory of the iconic New York City Mafia family over a two-year period. In 1933, 17-year-old Sonny Corleone struggles to come to terms with the truth about how his father, Vito, makes a living. At first, the narrative dwells on the brutal thug Luca Brasi, at the expense of more interesting characters, such as the Corleones’ adopted son, Tom Hagen, who’ll grow up to be the family’s consigliere, and the hotheaded Sonny’s younger brother, Michael. Those who persevere will be rewarded with scenes of Machiavellian plotting by Vito, who fends off both Italian and Irish rivals. Falco (Saint John of the Five Boroughs) takes the story right up to Sonny’s wedding, and if he offers few new insights into characters’ motivations, Puzo fans will find this a refreshing change from, say, Mark Winegardner’s inferior sequels, The Godfather Returns and The Godfather’s Revenge. Agent: Neil Olson, Donadio & Olson. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Channels the original so well that readers will be vividly reminded of Puzo's strengths...His moments of blam-blam-blam are ace. Best of all, he supplies a grand set-piece finale--a parade--that will have readers dreaming of just one more movie."

Booklist

"If you have any knowledge of The Godfather you will love this book. It's a perfect addition to the Corleone saga...When you see this book, buy it. It is written with love for the characters and respect for Puzo. It is also a story that won't quit and I couldn't stop reading. Falco brought me back to a world I love and did it perfectly. As far as I'm concerned this is THE BOOK to buy in 2012."

Crime Spree Magazine

"Falco has captured Puzo's rich prose style and eye for detail...a solid piece of work."

The Washington Post

"Falco ably exploits the tension between civility and brutality. The result is good, messy fun."

The Guardian (UK)

"Puzo-worthy."

New York Daily News

"This early snapshot of the Corleone family is fascinating ...Ed Falco has done yeoman's work in The Family Corleone, meeting the American legend that is its subject matter head-on and creating a tale that demands to be read in one sitting. We already know how it turns out (at least most of it). But it's how Falco and Corleone get from beginning to end that makes this journey a riveting and twisting ride."

BookReporter.com

Don Corleone's family navigates opportunity and treachery as Prohibition comes to a close in New York. Playing around in the Godfather universe is a tightrope act. The original novel is a pulpy, popular synthesis of influences, while its film adaptation is a timeless classic. The video games are slushy Grand Theft Auto knock-offs, and Mark Winegardner's sequels are labyrinthine marathons with epic casts. This time, the franchise falls back on more workmanlike writer Falco (Saint John of the Five Boroughs, 2009, etc.), who reels the story back to its roots though moments resurrected from unproduced scripts by Mario Puzo. It's 1933, and the Don is at the height of his power. Peter Clemenza is Vito's capo and Genco Abbandando remains consigliere. Michael and Fredo squabble underfoot but it's Sonny's explosive temper that film fans will recognize. Meanwhile, dutiful college student Tom Hagen is having a harmless fling—that turns out to be not so harmless when psychotic Luca Brasi decides to kill Tom for messing with his broad. In other boroughs, Giuseppe Mariposa conspires with Emilio Barzini and Phillip Tattaglia in his slow tango with the Corleones, while a pair of Irish brothers adds a new element to this dangerous mix. What works well is Falco's depiction of Vito Corleone, which captures both the cool reserve of young Vito and the insight he demonstrates as Don. "To understand the truth of things," he cautions Sonny, "you have to judge both the man and the circumstances. You have to use both your brains and your heart. That's what it's like in a world where men lie as a matter of course—and there is no other kind of world, Santino, at least not here on earth." More obsessive fans also get a reveal about a member of the Don's family, as well as a juicy unveiling of Luca Brasi's back story pulled from The Godfather. A worthy addition to the lurid world of the Five Families, if not quite an offer you can't refuse.

Kirkus Reviews