Which novel by Mario Puzo was adapted into The Godfather?

The Godfather was adapted from Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather. Puzo’s book was published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons in 1969 and became a bestseller before the film reached cinemas.

Puzo co-wrote the screenplay with director Francis Ford Coppola. The adaptation retained central figures such as Don Vito Corleone, Michael Corleone, Sonny Corleone, and Tom Hagen, while changing or shortening some material from the novel.

A common mix-up is The Sicilian, another Puzo novel connected to the Godfather world. The Sicilian focuses on the fictionalized bandit Salvatore Giuliano and was later adapted into a separate 1987 film, but it is not the source novel for The Godfather.

The original novel helped define the names, relationships, and criminal vocabulary that audiences associate with the trilogy. The films then became more widely known than the book in many countries.