Rating: 
Summary: Puzo hits ocean bottom
Review: Puzo's new book is definitely not the masterpiece that The Godfather is. His characters are interesting, although I find the parts regarding showbusiness to be very boring. Whatever happened to the silent ferocity of the Mafia that Puzo wrote about in his 1969 classic? The book lacks the "quotability" of The Godfather, which gave us lines such as, "Revenge is a dish best served when cold." To give justice to his efforts, I still think it's good. But this book will definitely be making pirouettes at the sandy bottom
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, clumsy, boring
Review: What a disappointment this turned out to be! It reads like was written for a bad TV movie. The characters are cardboard. How unlike "The Godfather" it i
Rating: 
Summary: Puzo at his best!
Review: While not a sequel to THE GODFATHER, THE LAST DON takes a look at the modern mafia. Puzo has a terrific sense of character and story. He gives great detail about even minor characters and you feel each could be the foundation for another good novel. The story will sweep you along to the impending confrontation between 2 cousins fighting for their vision of the family. I think some of the best scenes in the novel are the moments when a character faces impending death (not inflicted by the Family) and he suddenly is able to put his life into perspective
Rating:
Summary: heavy action, great reading.
Review: I've been reading "The Last Don" and I simply cannot put it down! Mario Puzo keeps the reader fascinated in his characters' lives and surroundings. It is absolutely REAL reading.
Rating: 
Summary: I paid for it, so I felt obligated.
Review: Quite frankly, this book was not very good. I like fiction
that's at least somewhat intellectual and interesting, this
book was neither. Its filled with cheesey, predictable
characters that bumble through a uninspired soap opera plot
and gratuitious sex scenes. There are a lot of semi-interesting
characters, but many of them are of no use to the story at
all. Oh well, the author should make a pretty penny from the movie rights, but this book is no 'Bankable Star'.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing. Unconvincing. Self-imitation.
Review: I've read and reread "The Godfather" and enjoyed it everytime. I'm sorry to say I found "The Last Don" weak andunconvincing. I even at times start to wonder if the Mafia lingo is real or if he's making it up. Early in the book, he says killing where the body is intended to be found are "confirmations," ones where it is intended not to be found are "communions." Then, throughout the book, over and over, whenever a killing is contemplated someone says something about whether it's to be "a communion or a confirmation." Maybe we're to assume this is Clericuzio family language, not shared by other Mafia families? Reads like Puzo is imitating Richard Condon imitating Puzo.
Rating:
Summary: The Last Don is a weak step-sister of the original Godfather
Review: The Last Don is almost a romance novel. After plowing through the book, I reread "The Godfather" which makes "The Last Don" pretty trite
Rating:
Summary: PUZO: AN AUTHOR WE CAN'T REFUSE!
Review: The masterful genius behind The Godfather and The Sicilian has once again invited us into the home of Family. The Last Don is an extraordinary look into another Family whom you can't help but feel a part of.
An immediate classic, this latest Puzo work takes us to New York, Las Vegas, Hollywood, Sicily -- the places Puzo and his fans know and love. Padrinophiles (fans of The Godfather) will feel right at home at the Clericuzio estate.
-J GEOFF MALTA, Webmaster of The Godfather Trilogy website - http://www.exit109.com/~jgeoff/godfather/ - and the "official unofficial" The Last Don website - http://www.exit109.com/~jgeoff/lastdon/
Rating: 
Summary: Mario Puzo's first Mafia novel since THE GODFATHER
Review: Mario Puzo is back with a vengeance returning to the subject he knows best -- the inner workings of the Mafia. The last don is Domenico Clericuzio, a ferocious old man who is determined to secure his family's future in an era of legalized gambling, motion picture investments, and the threat of government informers. The Don is close to acheiving his vision when secrets buried in his family's past threaten to undermine his plan and spark a war between two blood cousins. Visit THE LAST DON web site at http://www.randomhouse.com/lastdon.
Rating: 
Summary: Puzo setting the record straight
Review: The Last Don is not the book the Godfather is, but it is the next best thing. Easy to read and hard to put down. A return visit to "the Families" is fascinating, and "dance to the bottom of the ocean" is as memorable and usable as "sleeps with the fishes". I found the incredible wealth, beauty and sex of the Hollywood characters a little boring, but the story lines hang together well.After seeing an interview with Mario Puzo and reading the book, I have a theory. I think Puzo is telling us about his own experience with Hollywood taking over his characters, particularly in Godfather II and, ech! Godfather III. I think Domenico Clericuzio is Vito Corleone guiding the Family to the destiny he and Michael envisioned, instead of the "crime never pays" copout of Hollywood.
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