 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2014) |
 First edition | |
| Author | Mario Puzo |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
Publication date | 1965 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) & Audiobook |
| Pages | 544 pp (Paperback edition) |
| ISBN | 0-449-00358-2 (Paperback editions) |
| OCLC | 39560711 |
| Preceded by | The Dark Arena |
| Followed by | The Runaway Summer of Davie Shaw |
The Fortunate Pilgrim is a 1965 novel by American author Mario Puzo.[1]
Mario Puzo considered the novel his finest, most poetic, and literary work.[citation needed] In one of his last interviews he stated that he was saddened by the fact that The Godfather, a fiction he never liked,[citation needed] outshone the novel based on his mother's honest immigrant struggle for respectability in America and her courage and filial love.
Puzo said that the book's hero, Lucia Santa, is based on his own mother: "Whenever the Godfather opened his mouth, in my own mind I heard the voice of my mother. I heard her wisdom, her ruthlessness, and her unconquerable love for her family and for life itself. … The Don's courage and loyalty came from her; his humanity came from her… and so, I know now, without Lucia Santa, I could not have written The Godfather."
- ^ "The Fortunate Pilgrim by Mario Puzo". goodreads.com. Retrieved 2014-06-16.