"The Godfather" by Mario Puzo. An epic tale of mafia management.
This is a book about mafias, covering every topic from the history of how the mafia concept came into existence to how mafias operate on a day to day basis. The author made some effort to not glorify the mafia too much, but it was easy for readers to find some of those characters likeable since they are reasonably good people who are basically providing for their community, without following the rules set by the lawful society. Part of the reason why this story is really enjoyable is because really bad things happen to really bad people. It's similar to the kind of pleasure we might find in other stories where some superhero save the city by fending off baddies, but in this story, those superheroes would be some random family member, and those baddies will be beaten into a pulp with the whole process described in gory detail.
Another highlight of this book is in mafia management. Not just the management of mafias, but the mafia style of management. There were interesting details on how family members may die but they usually don't go to jail due to how the management hierarchy is setup, or other details like how some family make money by overloading freight trucks, and then make additional profit through highway repair contracts. The details by themselves were great, but what is more impressive is the general theme of how efficiently these families operated. Like how rental disputes are resolved on the same day by a visit from the Godfather, or how Hollywood contracts are quickly amended after a friendly visit by the family lawyer, or how anyone who betrayed the family are swiftly executed. In the same vein, it's not so much that the family wanted to ruin all others who compete with them on importing olive oil, it's just that monopoly is a more efficient way to operate and benefits everyone in the community. The mafia is ultimately a business, but a much more efficient business than conventional ones.
All the mafia concepts and values are illustrated through the events of the Corleone family, following the life and death of many memorable characters. The best part about this book is the great detail that goes into building each character from their outer appearances to their inner personalities, and almost every one of them came with a detailed backstory that explained how they became the person they were. The apex of these characters is Don Vito Corleone, the mastermind who invests in favors and plans far ahead into the future, who survives through alertness and wins through intelligence. One specific detail that I found fascinating was how Don Corleone never answers the phone:
"He hardly ever talks on the phone. He doesn't want his voice recorded, even saying something perfectly innocent. He's afraid that they can splice the words together so that it sounds as if he says something else."
That sounds very much like what information security experts would do, particularly impressive considering that this book was written in 1969. The Don has many foresights like these, the greatest of which was in training his son, Michael Corleone, to take over the family business. This story is titled "The Godfather" for the many impressive feats performed by Don Corleone to earn this distinction, and also for the development of Michael Corleone as a successor to this title. This book has done an epic job in describing the greatness of these men.
Many people probably saw the movie adaptation of The Godfather, which was reasonably faithful to the book and it's hard to say if either media is strictly better than the other. For example, in the opening scene where Don Corleone was talking to Bonasera, the fact that he was playing with his cat was only seen in the movie, but the desperation in Bonasera's request was better documented in the book. Also, Bonasera is an "undertaker" in the movie and a "corpse valet" in the book. There are various differences of this sort, you really have to just read the book and watch the movies. It's definitely worth the time.
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