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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780061032424
ISBN number: 0061032425
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: September 01, 2002
Publishing house: Avon
Release Date: September 03, 2002
Sale Popularity Level: 141172
Studio: Avon
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Product Description:
'We are a family,' Alexander told his children. 'And the loyalty of the family must come before everything and everyone else. For if we honor that commitment, we will never be vanquished -- but if we falter in that loyalty, we will all be condemned.'
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Rated by buyers 
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It is easy to see how Mario Puzo was intrigued by Papal politics in the 1500's. Even bearing in mind that "The Family" is a fictionalized version of events we won't ever know the full story behind, it is incredible to imagine the history.
The reading is light in places, with some characters being glossed over rather than developed and some events rushing past inspite of their importance to the plot. How much of this is due to Puzo's death before it was completed, I'm not sure. But on the whole, it does not detract from the enjoyment of the story.
If you have any interest in Renaissance history or Pope Alexander, this is a must read. Also, if political intrigue is your cup of tea I'd recommend this book as well!
Rated by buyers 
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I just finished the family by mario puzo and i don't understand how so many people didn't like it, I practically devour it in just one day, it really kept my attention every single page absolutely one of my favorite books!!!!
Rated by buyers -
I randomly read this book not know anything about it - not know that it is surprisingly historically accurate in its account and lurid description of Pope Alexander VI's rise and fall. The book is mainly a history with bits of dialogue recreated by the author. In terms of being "historical fiction", I think it leans more on the history than the fiction.
The lives of the Borgias family certainly lends well to the idea that history can be an entertaining endeavor.
The downside is that the book really does try to cover too much information and at many times you forget that you're not in history class anymore.
Rated by buyers -
If you like both the "The Godfather" and Renaissance history, "The Family" is the book for you. An historical novel, it is the fictionalized story of the Borgia family of Rodrigo (Pope Alexander VI) and his children, principally Ceasare, the Cardianl turned warrior, and Lucrezia, the beloved commodity who could be shopped around Europe for the best alliance. From the little I have been able to research, the story line seems to be bases in fact, or at least legends which have become fact.
The story reads like that of a 15th century Mafia family. Everything that characterizes the Corleones is also found in the Borgias. Like their later day literary successors, this family revels in intrigue, murder (even within the family), lust, incest and all round disgusting behavior, all within the nurturing environment of a closely knit family.
Normally I would be repelled by a tale of immoral behavior such as this, but "The Family" held my interest. Maybe it is the peak into the life of the clerical nobility of the Renaissance at its worst or maybe it is because the times are so remote from our own that the Borgias do not pose a threat. Maybe it is because people like that really do not inhabit our world anymore. But come to think of it, we still have Corleones don't we?
Rated by buyers -
Unlike most of the other reviewers, I actually enjoyed this novel as much as any of Puzo's. The Borgias are an extremely interesting family, and Mario Puzo manages to make them even more so. Perhaps my review is a bit colored by the fact that I read the book shortly after returning from the Vatican, but if you are a fan of Puzo, or interested in the Papacy during the Renaissance, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
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