Customer Reviews

The Last Don.

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I really liked this book. The reason I first got it was because I knew that Mario Puzo wrote the Godfather and I loved that movie. I decided to get the book, and I was not disappointed.
This book is about the workings of Cross DE Lena and the Clercuzio family. Cross and Dante are grandsons of the Don and they make a name for themselves. Cross owns a huge casino/hotel in Las Vegas, and Dante is the The number one hitman for the family. But when a family secret that the Don wants know one to know gets out, there becomes a huge war with in the Family.
This is a great book for anyone who likes action our who liked the Godfather. This book shows that after all these years Puzo can still write a great mafia story.

Every time I read a book by Mario Puzo, I become more and more impressed with this mans writing style. His books always have a great combination of real world brutality, goodness, sex, and all the other mixes of human experience.

His sentences are simplistic and without airs, as are the ideas of the story, and it is this simplicity that gives Puzo's books an elegance that many modern writers lack. Mario is writing about something that is interesting and tells the reader what they need to know when they need to know it. He knows his subject material and creates a world that is interesting as well as believable.

Fools die was excellent, and then I read GodFather,and I was very impressed with that book also. I wasn't sure about this book, but I picked it up, and saw that even though it was about the same subject material (I thought it would just be a recounting of the godather), the storyline is fresh, with new characters that become well developmed by the end of the book.

Puzo also creates fantastic characters in this book, there is a mold to run by, the old sicilian mafia mold, but the characters in this book are removed by a generation or 2 from this mentality, and it is very interesting to see how Puzo shows their lives as caught in the middle of the mafia life of their parents and grandparents, and the americanized life they lead apart from Quoge LI and the "family".

This book was great, and a great read. Any book written by Puzo is worth reading because of his fantastic writing style, this book is no exception.

The Last Don is the finest Mafia novel that I have read and is comparable to great novels such as The Godfather. The Last Don is Domenico Clericuzio, a wise and ruthless old man who is determined to see his heirs become established in society. The prologue to the story is at the christening of his nephews, Cross De Lena and Dante Clericuzio. Now, thirty years later, the Clericuzio's have become the dominant mafia family in America after costly wars with other families. They have gained a hand in politics, gambling, drugs, and even Hollywood.
The setting of The Last Don is Las Vegas in 1995. The author did a very skillful job of describing Las Vegas. He pays very close attention to details. In the book, Las Vegas symbolizes the chaos and corruption in the world. The plot of The Last Don is that two cousins, Cross De Lena and Dante Clericuzio, hate each other because of a past war and must decide what to do about one another. There are also several sub-plots, such as the love between Cross and Athena and the relationship between Pippi De Lena and his daughter Claudia. Even minor characters play major roles in the story.
I enjoyed The Last Don tremendously. It was the best mafia-themed book that I have ever read. It was full of non-stop action and a twist around every corner. It also entwines love and romance into the bloody plot. I would recommend The Last Don to people who are interested in books about Mafia in America. It should, however, be read by mature audiences. The book has numerous bloody battles as well as various sexual scenes. The only bad part about the story is that the plot is not revealed until around 150 pages from the end. Definitely a great book to read on a rainy day.

For fans of the Godfather and Puzo, this book was thoroughly enjoyable. It had the same feel and magnitude of that timeless classic. The story centers on a new crime family and their branching into the world of Vegas Gambling and Hollywood. It is more of a West Coast mafia tale, and is pure entertainment. The first 80 pages are a little slow, but by the time you hit 100, you can't put the book down and very well may stay up far later than you had hoped for. Puzo weaves an exciting tale of complexity sure to delight crime family genre lovers...

Upon browsing through the reviews posted, I was somewhat surprised to find so many harsh judgements pronounced on this book.

To begin with, why on earth do divers people compare The Last Don to The Godfather? The two novels have hardly anything in common, apart from the setting and mafia theme. They are set almost half a century apart. One is more of a family (without the capital 'F') novel, while the other is about Hollywood, Vegas and an internal family dispute.

Neverthless, I do agree that The Godfather makes a more enjoyable read, primarily because of its simplicity and 'clean' plot. Still, The Last Don is an interesting portrayal of the Cosa Nostra of the 80s and beyond. Come to think of it, how many books that discuss modern day organised crime exist?

It may not be the Godfather (hey, you can only discover the theory of relativity once, so to speak), but it was intense, suspenseful and gripping. It had me glued from cover to cover, and I have to say, it shocked me a few times with it's twists and turns. If you are a fan of mobster books, this is a definite must have page turner.

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.

This is an extraordinarily readable novel. As always when writing about the Mafia, Puzo tells a great story. This is the story of the Clericuzio crime family and the long range plan of its ruling Don to join the legitimate world and exit the Mafia, with the family wealth intact. This plan is fraught with peril and requires much bloodshed, setting the stage for the story.

The Godfather dealt with the Mafia from roughly the 1930s through the 1950s. This novel is more contemporary and appears to be set in the 1990s. Mostly, the story has an authentic quality to it, and it moves along at a very brisk pace. Puzo's prose is clear and makes the book a pleasure to read.

Some of the sub-plots in the novel are just plain unrealistic. For example, he explains how a Hollywood attorney and a "California Jury" fails to convict a murderer based on a temporary insanity defense, and a few months later the perp is walking the streets a free man.... But hey, makes a great story, anyway. And make no mistake, this is a minor quibble--this is a great story.

Puzo's portrayal of the movie business as being essentially as brutal as the Mafia is hilarious. Is it true to life? I doubt it, but it sure is entertaining.

The Last Don was made into a miniseries which is fairly faithful to the novel (Part 1 of the miniseries is, that is). If you enjoy the novel, the DVD of the miniseries is a great entertainment value.

Another good one by Mr. Puzo...of course it isn't the Godfather...what ever could be?! But it was still a real page turner. Cross and Athena...the short midget nephew (the commentary about him was hilarious)...all these different sub-stories going on...and then how they all fit together...absolutely loved it! I loved Pippi and Cross...such a great book!

after reading several of puzo's books, this one is strikingly different. human nature is darker in this book, showing how hollywood is a pack of rabid wolves, the pure accidentilly evil intent of Dante, and the constant exploitation of the weak. in this book i have found the most intriguing charactor i have ever read about, Athena Aquitane. when you read about her, read carefully, there are so many hiddin motives and feelings that can only be found in very short and almost hidden sentences.