Rating: 
Summary: Fast-paced and entertaining
Review: I finally read this book after receiving it for my birthday a year ago. I don't know why it took me so long to pick it up because I really enjoyed it. I ended up finishing it within a few days.I've read books about the Borgias before and this one is probably the most sympathetic to all of them that I've seen. Puzo is able to illustrate each character's numerous faults and/or sins, but he paints a picture of background information so the reader understands why the characters behave the way they do. Puzo especially does this with Cesare, usually regarded as the most villainous of all. With Alexander VI, Puzo dismisses his various power plays for a Borgia dynasty as just a loving father who is looking out for his children's best interests. There are a lot of characters and sometimes the numerous politial alliances are hard to keep straight. And oh so much incest. But even that is presented in a way so that it's not even all that disturbing. I enjoyed the story very much and I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Major Letdown!
Review: I have enjoyed reading Mario Puzo novels for many years. The Family has neither the feel or the substance I am used to. It was a book I never had a problem putting down. There was no excitement when I would pick it up again, and no urgency to see what was coming on the next page. Do we know how much of this book was actually written by Mr. Puzo?
The novel read like a poorly written history textbook, which lacked continuity. All in all a major disappointment!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not Typical Puzo
Review: I have to say I rather like Puzo's books "the Fourth K", "The Sicilian" and "Omerta". I thought this would really be the crown of his career ... we're talking about the Borgia's here. To my dismay this book just doesn't cut it. Dare I say it's pretty boring! Very slow and quite repetitive in the acts in the book this is quite lackluster. Do yourself a favor wait for the paperback if you must.
Rating:
Summary: The Poor Borgias
Review: I just finished reading Mario Puzo's travesty of a book on the Borgias. The Family is riddled with historical inaccuracies. Ms. Carol Gino, his companion and the person who completed this disaster, states that he was fascinated with the Borgias. Too bad this fascination didn't lead him to become a student of the period, a step necessary for any writer of fiction or non-fiction to be successful. I really don't see that he did much beyond the most basic and elementary research. The first clue I got was the misnaming of King Alfonso of Naples ... trust me, his name wasn't Masino. Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino and a fairly famous condottiere of the period, languishes in the guise of Guido Feltra. Talk about dumbing down history. I don't know if it was to make the book more appealing to the masses or if Mr. Puzo honestly didn't know any better. Also, instead of referring to correspondence between Pope Alexander and various people of the time, which did exist, Mr. Puzo invents visits of these people to Rome, which never occurred. Ludovico Sforza, King Ferdinand of Spain, and Ercole of Este did not meet personally with the Pope in the situations Mr. Puzo invents. The last point, the one that made me almost physically ill, was Cesare Borgia's suggestion to his sister that she call her third husband Alfonso by the nickname of Sonny. Sonny? Sonny? My, what visions of the Renaissance that name conjures up. Maybe Ms. Gino got mixed up between drafts of The Godfather and drafts of The Family. That would be the kindest excuse. All of these blunders and mistakes might have been barely tolerable if the story line was the least bit entertaining. It isn't. Mr. Puzo seized on a bit of gossip about Cesare and Lucrezia, the question of incest, which is still obviously unproven, and made it the main them of a mediocre plot. ...
Rating:
Summary: The poor Borgias ....
Review: I just finished reading Mario Puzo's travesty of a book on the Borgias. The Family is riddled with historical inaccuracies. Ms. Carol Gino, the person who completed this disaster, states that Mr. Puzo was fascinated with the Borgias. Too bad this fascination didn't lead him to become a student of the period, a step necessary for any writer of fiction or non-fiction to be successful. I really don't see that he did much beyond the most basic and elementary research. The first clue I got was the misnaming of King Alfonso of Naples ... trust me, his name wasn't Masino. Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino and a fairly famous condottiere of the period, languishes in the guise of Guido Feltra. Talk about dumbing down history. I don't know if it was to make the book more appealing to the masses or if Mr. Puzo honestly didn't know any better. Also, instead of referring to correspondence between Pope Alexander and various people of the time, which did exist, Mr. Puzo invents visits of these people to Rome, which never occurred. Ludovico Sforza, King Ferdinand of Spain, and Ercole of Este did not meet personally with the Pope in the situations Mr. Puzo invents. The last point, the one that made me almost physically ill, was Cesare Borgia's suggestion to his sister that she call her third husband Alfonso by the nickname of Sonny. Sonny? Sonny? My, what visions of the Renaissance that name conjures up. Maybe Ms. Gino got mixed up between drafts of The Godfather and drafts of The Family. That would be the kindest excuse. All of these blunders and mistakes might have been barely tolerable if the story line was the least bit entertaining. It isn't. Mr. Puzo seized on a bit of gossip about Cesare and Lucrezia, the question of incest, which is still obviously unproven, and made it the main them of a mediocre plot. I know you can't tell from the above review how I felt about this book, so I'll clarify it with one statement...
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good
Review: I really enjoyed reading "The Family". Some things in the book are pretty shocking, such as the sexual deviencies practiced by Pope's children and Pope himself. The story is very involving and historically accurate (to the best of my knowledge. Carol Gino diod an excellent job in finishing the work and one can't feel a differnce in her writting from Puzo's. If you like Mario's previous works this book is certainly something you don't want to miss.
Rating: 
Summary: * * * * * !
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book from beginning to end in every way. This book tells the story of the powerful Borgia family, some believe this was the first mafia family in history. I loved the characters especially the fierce, courageous Cesare, the powerful and honorable Pope Alexander and the lovely, innocent Lucrezia.
This is a must read for any Mario Puzo, and lovers of good literature. The book deals with everything from treachery, to loyalty, to true honor, 15th century wars, etc. Not a book for the religious extremists as this book makes no effort to hide the true facade of the church at that point in time.
The book was an easy read and if you're the type of person who prefers straight-to-the point- books instead of long descriptive page after page type of book, then this book is a good read. Overall I give "The Family" 5 stars for being entertaining, hard-to-put-down, concise, and at the same time narrative without overdoing it.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting to read
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. From the very beginning there is scandel and intrigue in the Chatholic church. It is one of the few books that I did not give up on somewhere in the middle. I liked the way the story unfolded, never giving away too much information at any point. When I finished this book I immediately wanted to find out more about the Borgia family.
Rating:
Summary: Hated to put it down
Review: I thought this book was well written and I was quickly sucked in to the story. I am a big fan of the Godfather series and loved this story on the same level.
Rating:
Summary: BIODEGRADABLE
Review: I was compelled to finish this book!
Two chapters into "The Family" it occurred to me that it was in fact the worst thing I had ever read! And so, I simply had to get to the end to enable me to declare with veracity how appalling it is. I don't know how old Mario Puzo was when he worked on this book but it reads as though it was written by a 12 year old of average ability - for the palate of peers. Cardboard characters, adolescent intrigue, a plodding and disjointed plot.
The best thing about this book I discovered, is that the paperback is biodegradable, and so I had no qualms in hurling it into the Irish Sea from a ferry...an act which gave me considerably more pleasure than reading the thing...
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