“教父”維托·考利昂是紐約五大地下勢力集團之一的頭頭。以他為首的考利昂地下勢力集團主要經(jīng)營的是從歐洲走私進口橄欖油、開設(shè)賭場等等。他的勢力遍及美 國東西南北各地，在政府各個要害部門也都有他的人。他神通廣大，渴求保護和支持的人們虔誠地尊稱他為“教父”。他對下面的人也有求必應(yīng)，說話算數(shù)，從而贏 利了們的敬畏。隨便什么事，只要他暗地或公開一插手就會按照他的意志發(fā)展變化。他是美國社會真正叱咤風(fēng)云的人物。
《教父》通過對美國地下勢力集團之間真刀真槍的“戰(zhàn)爭”的敘寫，淋漓盡致地揭示了美國社會的表層下面的最隱蔽的本質(zhì)。

The story of Don Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia family, inspired some of the most successful movies ever. It is in Mario Puzo'sThe Godfatherthat Corleone first appears. As Corleone's desperate struggle to control the Mafia underworld unfolds, so does the story of his family. The novel is full of exquisitely detailed characters who, despite leading unconventional lifestyles within a notorious crime family, experience the triumphs and failures of the human condition. Filled with the requisite valor, love, and rancor of a great epic,The Godfatheris the definitive gangster novel.