Few people can single-handedly change popular culture, who can create an entire genre, build characters and models that are not subject to time. Few people are like Mario Puzo.
Born on October 15, 1920, the American writer of Italian origin Mario Gianluigi Puzo became one of the key names in mass art of the 20th century. Author of titles such as “The Last Don“, “Omerta“ and “Fools Die Hard“, he gained additional fame as a Hollywood screenwriter - a commitment that brought him the “Oscar“ award, and twice. His name is cemented thanks to two brilliant bestsellers that inspired the seventh art - "The Godfather" and "The Sicilian", respectively turned by Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Cimino into unforgettable films starring Al Pacino and Christophe Lambert.
The appearance of the book event "The Godfather" in 1969 marked the beginning of a new era in mainstream art. The story of Vito Corleone is doomed to immortality - the story of his origins and the traditions his family follows, the whole palette of fascinating anti-heroes, corrupt police officers, unscrupulous opponents and political machinations driven by the blood-soaked mechanism of organized crime; the story of his youngest son, Michael, who rapidly rises to the top while gradually destroying his soul; the story in which, as a mirror reflection, we see all aspects of humanity - from the opaque darkness to the blinding light. By weaving a large-scale intrigue that reaches deep into the heart of America, Puzo creates a mythology with its own rules and boundaries, which leaves the boundaries of fiction and settles in the collective consciousness of readers and viewers around the world.
But the story continues and is supplemented by “The Sicilian“, which sees the light of day in 1984. This time Puzo reveals to us a remarkable Mediterranean tragedy about a contradictory character with a dramatic fate. Just when Michael's exile in Sicily is about to end, he is unexpectedly assigned an important mission - to find and accompany the young bandit Salvatore Giuliano to America. However, the task will prove to be extremely difficult, as Giuliano is a complex personality with even more complex and intricate connections, deeply rooted in a dangerous lawlessness forged by violence and revenge.
On the one hand, he is perceived as the Sicilian Robin Hood, embarking on a crusade against corruption in power and against the mafia itself. On the other hand, his mysterious figure, lost somewhere in the misty and rocky Italian landscape, has long since transformed into a multifaceted legend. For some, he is a noble daredevil, for others he is an irresistible lover, and for still others - a fierce enemy… “The Sicilian“ is a cruelly romantic and lyrically brutal cornerstone of genre literature, focused on the bloody clash between betrayal and justice.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Puzo's birth in 2020, the author's two most emblematic books appear in Bulgarian - in new and luxurious editions, but with the original translations by Elena Yurukova and Vesela Proshkova. “The Godfather“ was published in February, and “The Sicilian“ will hit bookstores on October 28.