I'm interested in the perceived reactions of the board about the relationships in this book.

I'm just getting into it and there seems to be a lot of irony and twists? Is it me? Am I over my head?

to be honest for me fools die is the least enjoyable puzo book i've read out of the 5 i have it was still ok though

I read this book about one year ago. I remember enjoying it very much. I remember it being rather deep, and it made me think. It wasn't nearly as good as Godfather and only slightly worse than Omerta, but hey, a good read.

Soon I should be receiving "The Fourth K" in the mail. Looking forward to reading this one. Eventually, I've gotta read "The Last Don" as well. I have the movie, "The Last Don", but I've yet to read the book.

But anyway, back on topic. I forgot what I was talking about...

I collect and read Puzo's novels. So far, I only got two left on my list.. The Sicilian and The Dark Arena.

I'm currently reading Fool's Die. It has alot of ironies of life. And right now, I'm really enjoying it!

I enjoyed this book but put it down for almost a year and then finished it so a lot was lost. Did the same with The Sicilian for some reason, even though The Sicilian was a much better book IMO. I'll have to re-read both of them when I have the time.

...the intro is brilliant, hooked me in. puzo's a cunning manipulator, he plays tricks on the reader. as it turns out the intro's not the voice of the narrator of the novel, it's an excerpt from a book written by a fools die character called osano, a novelist. a cruel bait n' switch by puzo. the beginning of the book is equally stunning, following two primary characters, merlyn, cully, as well as a guy called jordan, gambling at the xanadu casino in vegas. puzo's poetic descriptions of the mechanics of the gambling are genius. then puzo drifts away from the floor and we go upstairs and meet alfred gronevelt the boss of the casino. gronevelt's an ice cold businessman and he shows up again in the last don which i've just started reading. i had john marley who portrayed woltz in the godfather in my head as gronevelt all the time. i think puzo did too when he was writing it. merlyn's a writer and we follow him for years in various situations like when he goes out to hollywood and has an affair with a lesbian hollywood starlet, gets his novel produced into a picture, and helps his old gambling partner cully, who becomes gronevelt's right hand man at the xanadu casino, smuggle millions of dollars out of japan. i get the impression puzo had contempt for the movie industry, much of what he writes about unflatteringly. quite entertaining with some very funny moments. there's a wonderful section where we follow merlyn pocketing bribes while a government employee from the powerful, rich and connected to block their sons from being drafted into the vietnam war. eventually everyone gets busted. But meryln, having the magician's magic power, manages to walk away. mario builds it up forever for merlyn to take the big hit and then he drops it and the character moves on to another adventure. and there's a hilarious sequence with a drunk osano getting into a vicious fight with a socialite on an airliner who asks him to put out his cigar because it might irritate...her dog! he does a lot of vamping, padding the book out and as such a lot of it reads like a meandering soap opera. interesting read nonetheless. however, don't expect the godfather...

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I just started reading this book yesterday.(83 pages in) so far I am enjoying it.

I think I have answered the same post.

This one is my favorite book of the Mario Puzo library. lol, looks like I'm in the minority on this one.

It's not a mob book, so that might be what turns a lot of people off.

From what I read about Puzo in The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions, the character of John Merlyn is semi-autobiographical... well, it may be just a tiny bit based on his own life and experience as an army reserve clerk after the war.