The Family - Mario Puzo, Carol Gino Audiobook

Written by Mario Puzo, Carol Gino
Read by George Guidall
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
Release date: 10-21-04
Publisher: HarperAudio Description

completed by Carol Gino

“Dazzling, passionate, a masterwork that ranks with Puzo’s best.”
—Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguys

“One of his most satisfying works….A thoroughly entertaining posthumous present from one of the masters of popular fiction.”
—Booklist

Before his death in 1999, Puzo had begun work on a novel featuring the 15th-century Borgias, whom he regarded as “the original crime family.” There are obvious parallels between the Borgias and the Corleone clan immortalized in The Godfather, but the resemblances are mostly superficial, at least as they are presented in this limp historical romance. The story opens with Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia manipulating papal elections in 1492 to become the new Pope Alexander. Determined to establish a family dynasty, he appoints his son Cesare cardinal in his stead and, after a strategically engineered episode of incest between siblings Cesare and Lucrezia, begins ruthlessly eliminating rivals and marrying his children into alliances with the offspring of noble families of France and Spain. But Cesare would rather be a soldier, and Lucrezia would rather marry for love; these conflicted desires contribute as much as risky political power plays to undoing the Borgias in a single generation.

Though Gino (Puzo’s companion, author of Then an Angel Came) is credited for the posthumous completion, Puzo’s true collaborator is history, and it proves a difficult partner. Obligated not to deviate from known facts, the narrative whizzes methodically through highlights of the Renaissance, embellishing events with snatches of imagined dialogue, purple prose (”For love can steal free will using no weapons but itself”) and cameos by Machiavelli, Michelangelo and da Vinci. Overwhelmed by the vast pageant of events, the characters never achieve dramatic stature. Puzo’s diehard fans will surely put the novel on their list, but they may feel, in Sonny Corleone’s words, that “this isn’t personal, it’s business.”

Though THE FAMILY reads more like history than fiction, George Guidall compensates for some of the loss. For much of his life Mario Puzo admired the Borgias, calling them the original crime family. In this novel, however, though adhering closely to the factual record, Puzo narrowly misses the rich, multidimensional figures that the Borgias must have been. Nevertheless, Guidall reads with all the passion the text can muster: Pope Alexander VI, the paterfamilias, has a quiet passion and power; his son, Ceasare, commands with a more forceful, energetic voice; while Lucrezia’s note is sweetness and gentleness. Guidall’s real strength, however, lies in his characterization of the odd or unusual characters, like Alexander’s faithful Michelotto, and in his careful, thoughtfully paced reading of the narrative. Though not great fiction and certainly not Puzo’s best, this is a wonderful way to enjoy Renaissance history. P.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2002