Prizzi's Money

Last updated

Prizzi's Money is a satirical, semi-humorous crime novel by Richard Condon published in 1994. It is the last of four novels featuring the Prizzis, a powerful family of Mafiosi in New York City. It was also the last of 28 books that Condon wrote over a 36-year career. In all four Prizzi novels the main protagonist is a top member of the family named Charley Partanna. In this book, however, which takes place about six or seven years after the events of the first novel, Prizzi's Honor , and at least a decade before those of the third book, Prizzi's Glory , Charley's role is less important than in the three others; although he makes brief appearances in the first half of the book, it is not until the second half that he becomes one of the primary characters.

Contents

Plot summary

On the opening page Henry George Asbury, "adviser to presidents", is kidnapped from his powerboat in the middle of Long Island Sound. We learn soon enough that Asbury, a millionaire director of innumerable companies and well-known confidant to the last four presidents, has, along with his beautiful wife, Julia, arranged for his own kidnapping in order to use the eventual ransom money to preserve his faltering companies. Julia, a noted hostess and society fixture, is actually Julia Melvini, daughter of a Prizzi hitman called "the Plumber" who is second cousin to Corrado Prizzi, the capo di tutti capi, and subordinate to Charley Partanna. All four Prizzi books are about money, power, murders, and politics, but in this one money itself is the prime concern and the three other elements, although inextricably linked to it, are clearly subordinate. The main theme of the book is the twist-filled struggle between Julia Asbury, as Sicilian in her plotting as the most devious capo, and the ancient but still indomitable Don Corrado himself. Charley Partanna, 36 years old as the book opens, eventually plays his usual role of naive, good-natured, and love-stricken semi-simpleton as well as deadly killer.

Condon's style

Condon attacked his targets, usually gangsters, financiers, and politicians, wholeheartedly and with a uniquely original style and wit that make almost any paragraph from one of his books instantly recognizable. Reviewing one of his works in the International Herald Tribune, the well-known playwright George Axelrod ( The Seven-Year Itch , Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter ), who had collaborated with Condon on the screenplay for the film adaptation of The Manchurian Candidate, wrote:

The arrival of a new novel by Richard Condon is like an invitation to a party.... the sheer gusto of the prose, the madness of his similes, the lunacy of his metaphors, his infectious, almost child-like joy in composing complex sentences that go bang at the end in the manner of exploding cigars is both exhilarating and as exhausting as any good party ought to be.

In Prizzi's Honor, Condon's normal exuberance was somewhat curbed by choosing to narrate the events through the viewpoints of its various semi-literate gangsters, which limited the scope of his imagery. In Money, however, he returns to being his usual omniscient narrator, giving the reader:

Vincent had a totally closed face, like a bank vault shut impenetrably by a system of time locks. Somewhere, hidden deep within his past, there was a boyish openness that had not been seen by anyone for over sixty years because, through carelessness, the combination to the shut vault of his expressiveness had been lost, somewhere in his preternatural resentment of everything that moved. [1]

He was a smallish man with a jockey's hump at the top of his spine, coffee-colored skin, and a nose not quite as large or as colorful as a keel-billed toucan's. [2]

Charley Partanna ... was a large, muscular man with a voice like grinding taxicab gears. In fact, if taxis wore clothes they would resemble Charley. [3]

Real-life names in the book

All of Condon's books have, to an unknown degree, the names of real people in them as characters, generally very minor or peripheral. The most common, which appears in most of his books, is some variation of Franklin M. Heller. The real-life Heller was a television director in New York City in the 1950s, '60s, and 70s, who initially lived on Long Island and then moved to a house on Rockrimmon Road in Stamford, Connecticut. [4] In this book Franklin Marx Heller is the senior partner of a Wall Street law firm called O'Connell, Heller & Melvin. page

A.H. Weiler, a film critic for The New York Times, was another friend of Condon's who in this book is mentioned several times as Doctor Abraham Weiler, "the most renowned plastic surgeon of the day". page 37

In a number of books a character named Keifetz appears, named apparently for Norman Keifetz, a New York City author who wrote a novel about a major league baseball player called The Sensation—a novel that was dedicated to Condon. In this book he is referred to as Wambly Keifetz of the Bahama Beaver Bonnet Company. page 101

Condon was a long-time friend of the thriller-political novel writer Charles McCarry and in this book has a newspaper reporter named McCarry covering the Kennedy Airport beat. page 115

Reception

Publishers Weekly liked it a lot:

...Love rears its intrusive head when she [Julia Asbury] gets involved with Prizzi enforcer Charley Partanna, who reads romantic novels, cooks dinner for his widowed father and can fall in love—or kill—at the drop of a hat. Since Don Corrado has chosen Julia as the ideal wife for one of his sons, matters become hilariously complicated. As is his wont, Condon uses these goings-on as a base from which to take pointed shots at the rich and powerful, especially Reagan Republicans, and several broad swipes at American life in the '90s. It's all great fun, even if the heavy-handed lampoonery goes over the top now and again. [5]

Kirkus Reviews felt the same:

Condon in top form with his fourth all-Prizzi novel. Just as Prizzi's Family (1986) was a prequel to Prizzi's Honor (1982), so this latest is a prequel to Prizzi's Glory (1988).... We know from Prizzi's Glory that Charley at last marries Maerose and becomes Chief of Staff to Edward's President of the USA. A tangled web! [6]

The New York Times loved it:

... the latest riotously funny installment in a series of novels.... As was the case in Prizzi's Honor, the infamous don, his vile sons and their assorted vindicatori, intimidatori and even what Mr. Condon refers to as "assistant intimidatori" and "apprentice vindicatori" now find themselves confronted by a force of nature that they are culturally unequipped to deal with: a perfidious woman 10 times more cunning and determined than they are. As the long-suffering don gloomily laments: "Sixteen months ago this Asbury woman was a simple housewife, now she runs 137 companies and wants to take over the biggest conglomerate in America. It's that... woman's movement that puts these crazy ideas into their heads.".... The delicious notion that the Cosa Nostra could somehow be subverted by Naomi Wolf-style power feminism is only one of the gloriously crackpot ideas that appear in "Prizzi's Money.".... Of course, what really makes the novel work is Mr. Condon's acid prose.... [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Clavell</span> Australian-British-American novelist (1921–1994)

James Clavell was an Australian-born, British-raised and educated, naturalized-American writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known for his Asian Saga novels, a number of which have had television adaptations. Clavell also wrote such screenplays as those for The Fly (1958), based on the short story by George Langelaan, and The Great Escape (1963), based on the personal account of Paul Brickhill. He directed the popular 1967 film To Sir, with Love, for which he also wrote the script.

<i>Prizzis Honor</i> 1985 film by John Huston

Prizzi's Honor is a 1985 American black comedy crime film directed by John Huston, starring Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner as two highly skilled mob assassins who, after falling in love, are hired to kill each other. The screenplay co-written by Richard Condon is based on his 1982 novel of the same name. The film's supporting cast includes Anjelica Huston, Robert Loggia, John Randolph, CCH Pounder, Lawrence Tierney, and William Hickey. Stanley Tucci appears in a minor role in his film debut. It was the last of John Huston's films to be released during his lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindbergh kidnapping</span> Abduction and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. (1932)

On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of colonel Charles Lindbergh and his wife, aviatrix and author Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was murdered after being abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Amwell, New Jersey, United States. On May 12, the child's corpse was discovered by a truck driver by the side of a nearby road.

Richard Thomas Condon was an American political novelist. Though his works were satire, they were generally transformed into thrillers or semi-thrillers in other media, such as cinema. All 26 books were written in distinctive Condon style, which combined a fast pace, outrage, and frequent humor while focusing almost obsessively on monetary greed and political corruption. Condon himself once said: "Every book I've ever written has been about abuse of power. I feel very strongly about that. I'd like people to know how deeply their politicians wrong them." Condon's books were occasionally bestsellers, and a number of his books were made into films; he is primarily remembered for his 1959 The Manchurian Candidate and, many years later, a series of four novels about a family of New York gangsters named Prizzi.

<i>Charley Varrick</i> 1973 film by Don Siegel

Charley Varrick is a 1973 American neo-noir crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. Charley Varrick is based on the novel The Looters by John H. Reese, and is the first of four consecutive films in which Matthau appeared that were not comedies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Hickey (actor)</span> American actor (1927–1997)

William Edward Hickey was an American actor. He is best known for his Academy Award-nominated role as Don Corrado Prizzi in the John Huston film Prizzi's Honor (1985), as well as Uncle Lewis in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) and the voice of Dr. Finkelstein in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

<i>The Manchurian Candidate</i> 1959 novel by Richard Condon

The Manchurian Candidate is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a Communist conspiracy. The novel has twice been adapted into a feature film with the same title: the first was released in 1962 and the second in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charley Bates</span> Character from Charles Dickens Oliver Twist

Charley Bates is a supporting character in the Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist. He is a young boy and a member of Fagin's gang of pickpockets. Bates serves as a sidekick to the Artful Dodger, whose skills he admires unreservedly. Bill Sikes's murder of Nancy shocks him so much that at the end of the novel he leaves London to become an agricultural labourer.

<i>Winter Kills</i> (film) 1979 film by William Richert

Winter Kills is a 1979 satirical black comedy thriller film written and directed by William Richert, based on the eponymous novel of 1974 by Richard Condon. A fiction inspired by the assassination conspiracy theories about President John F. Kennedy, its all-star cast includes Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Eli Wallach, Richard Boone, Toshirō Mifune, Sterling Hayden, Dorothy Malone, Belinda Bauer, Ralph Meeker, Elizabeth Taylor, Berry Berenson and Susan Walden.

The Keener's Manual is an imaginary book created by the 20th-century American political novelist Richard Condon. From it Condon used quotations or epigraphs, generally in verse, to either illustrate the theme of his novels, or, in a large number of cases, as the source of the title, in particular six of his first seven books: The Oldest Confession, Some Angry Angel, A Talent for Loving, An Infinity of Mirrors, and Any God Will Do. Only his second, and most famous novel, The Manchurian Candidate, derived its title elsewhere. A number of his later books also reference it for epigraphs, without, however, using any of its verse as a source for titles.

<i>The Oldest Confession</i> Novel by Richard Condon

The Oldest Confession is a 1958 novel, the first of twenty-five by the American political novelist and satirist Richard Condon. It was published by Appleton-Century-Crofts. The novel is a tragicomedy about the attempted theft of a masterpiece from a museum in Spain. It can be classified as a caper story or caper novel, a subset of crime novels. The book deals with issues of money, greed, ethics and morality. It was adapted into a film retitled The Happy Thieves.

<i>Mile High</i> (novel) Novel by Richard Condon

Mile High was the eighth book by the American satirist and political novelist Richard Condon, first published by Dial Press in 1969. Internationally famous at the time of its publication, primarily because of his 1959 Manchurian Candidate, Condon had begun to lose the respect of critics with the publication of his last few books and the one-time, so-called Condon Cult was mostly a thing of the past. Like his fifth book, An Infinity of Mirrors, Mile High is a consciously ambitious work, primarily concerned with the establishment of Prohibition in the United States, and Condon researched it thoroughly. The first two-thirds of the book, in fact, reads as much like a lively history of New York City gangsterism from the mid-18th century through 1930 as it does a novel.

<i>Some Angry Angel: A Mid-Century Faerie Tale</i> Novel by Richard Condon

Some Angry Angel: A Mid-Century Faerie Tale was Richard Condon's third novel and gave impetus to the growing, though relatively short-lived "Condon cult" of that era. Published in 1960, it is written with all the panache, stylistic tricks, and mannerisms that characterize Condon's works. It was not, however, one of his more typical political thrillers, such as its immediate predecessor, the far better-known The Manchurian Candidate. While Condon is remembered today for a number of more action-oriented books such as Candidate, Winter Kills, and the Prizzi series, Some Angry Angel is largely forgotten.

<i>A Talent for Loving</i> Novel by Richard Condon

A Talent for Loving; or The Great Cowboy Race was the fourth novel by Richard Condon. Published in 1961, it was one of the books that inspired a brief cult for his strenuously off-beat works. A subtitle does not appear on the cover of its first edition but is shown on an inner page.

<i>The Ecstasy Business</i> Book by Richard Condon

The Ecstasy Business was the seventh book by the American satirist and political novelist Richard Condon, first published by The Dial Press in 1967. Told in the third person, it is the broadly comic story of Tynan Bryson, "the greatest film star of his generation", and his torturous relationship with the director Albert McCobb, a blatant caricature of Alfred Hitchcock, and with his tempestuous ex-wife, an Italian film star to whom he has been married three times.

<i>And Then We Moved to Rossenarra</i> 1973 memoir by Richard Condon

And Then We Moved to Rossenarra: or, The Art of Emigrating is a memoir by American political novelist Richard Condon, published by Dial Press in 1973. A native of New York City whose early career had mostly been that of a press agent for various Hollywood studios, Condon took up writing relatively late in life but then became both prolific and famous; today, he is most remembered for his 1959 political thriller The Manchurian Candidate and for his four later novels about a family of New York gangsters named Prizzi.

Nicholas Anthony Vallelonga is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing and producing the film Green Book, for which he received two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. He also won two Golden Globes in the same categories, as well as the PGA Award for Best Film. He has also directed the films In the Kingdom of the Blind, the Man with One Eye Is King, Choker and Stiletto, and co-wrote the screenplay to Deadfall.

Prizzi's Honor is a satirical crime novel by Richard Condon published in 1982. It is the first of four novels featuring the Prizzis, a powerful family of Mafiosi in New York City. In all four novels the protagonist is a top member of the family named Charlie Partanna. It was adapted into a successful film of the same name. Prizzi's Honor was followed in 1986 by Prizzi's Family, which is a prequel story. Chronologically, the events in Prizzi's Honor are followed by the story of Prizzi's Money, which was the fourth and final Prizzi novel published, and also Condon's last work.

Prizzi's Family is a satirical, semi-humorous crime novel by Richard Condon published in 1986. It is the second of four novels featuring the Prizzis, a powerful family of Mafiosi in New York City. In all four novels the main protagonist is a top member of the family named Charley Partanna. It is a prequel to the very successful Prizzi's Honor of 1982, which was also adapted into an award-winning film.

Prizzi's Glory is a satirical, semi-humorous crime novel by Richard Condon published in 1988. It is the third of four novels featuring the Prizzis, a powerful family of Mafiosi in New York City. In all four novels the main protagonist is a top member of the family named Charlie Partanna. The book's events begin in 1986 and continue through the Presidential election of 1992.

References

  1. ↑ Prizzi's Money, by Richard Condon, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1994, page 41
  2. ↑ Prizzi's Money, by Richard Condon, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1994, page 42
  3. ↑ Prizzi's Money, by Richard Condon, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1994, page 43
  4. ↑ Remembrance of Frank Heller, by Ira Skutch, at
  5. ↑ Publishers Weekly, 31 January 1994
  6. ↑ Kirkus Reviews, 15 November 1993
  7. ↑ The New York Times, 6 February 1994
This article incorporates material from the Citizendium article "Prizzi's Money", which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License but not under the GFDL.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.