Is Mister Cuzo Cashing in His Own Italian Heritage?

The godfather, by Mario Puzo was a best seller in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The book is about an italian American gangster who goes on to become one of America's most powerful men. In his obituary puzo wrote that he had no first hand knowledge of the mob but did research for the novel. He also said: "I'm ashamed to admit that i wrote the godfather entirely from research"