Angered that his first two critically-acclaimed novels had failed commercially, Mario Puzo managed to get a $5K advance from G.P. Putnam's Sons for his proposed Mafia novel and set his sights on nothing short of a best-seller, writing "The Godfather" in a rage to be accepted. Though he was nearly 50 at the time of its publication, Puzo put poverty behind him forever, subsequently…
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