Does anyone who posts here know much about Mario Puzo? What I was wondering was he born in Sicily and did he have inside knowledge of "The friends of the friends" or did he just do a lot of research? He seems to know everything about what he was writing about with exact detail!

Mario Puzo was born in Hell's Kitchen in New York on Oct. 15/1920. His parents were from Naples, Italy. As far as I know Puzo did not have any Mob ties and his work was all a result of intensive research. Puzo himself has declared that his portrayal of the Mafia is a heavily romanticized one and differs with the real thing. On his supposed Mob ties Puzo said in a AP interview in '96 "Where would I have time to be in the Mafia? I starved before the success of The Godfather. If I was in the Mafia I would have made enough money so I wouldn't have to write." Aside from this, Puzo was a rather stocky man who loved food, gambling and cigars. He could be mistaken for a Mobster or associate based on his appearance but the fact that all his work was based on research alone shows his genius.

Don Jasani is right! Puzo had no connection with the Mafia. He said that the only two incidents in the novel that were based on his real-life observations were guns being passed between apartments, and a woman evicted because of a dog. But he was such a terrific storyteller that he made his account of the Mob utterly convincing. After the book became a hit (no pun intended), many Mobsters wondered out loud who he based Don Corleone on, and who his real-life "godfather" was who gave him "access" to base his observations on.

"Coach" and "Sally Rags", the two bookmakers who worked with Carlo, were based on real people Puzo knew (see "The Godfather Papers" by MP). Apparently, Puzo was quite a gambler himself.

Yes. I read somewhere that Puzo wrote GF to generate the money to pay off gambling debts.

BTW, "The Godfather Papers" is a great read. Tons of interesting stuff in there.