PRIZZI'S GLORY

by Richard Condon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 1988

While the previous two Prizzi novels (Prizzi's Honor, Prizzi's Family) emphasized character-comedy and icy black humor, this conclusion to the trilogy is Condon at his political-cartooniest: the cheerfully ruthless Mafiosi now go all the way in their pursuit of high-placed power and utter respectability. . .until, by 1992, they manage to buy up everything, including the Presidency. The instigator of this ultimate scam is sleek Maerose, now wed at last to chief-enforcer Charley Partanna--and determined to wrest control of the Prizzi empire from Uncle Eduardo (a.k.a. Edward Price, Harvard-educated tycoon) before Grandpa Prizzi kicks the bucket. Step #1: rid the Prizzis of all visible contact with vice by selling their underworld network, as franchises, to non-Italian gangsters. Step #2: distract Uncle E. by persuading him to run for President! (Reluctant at first, especially because of his secret affair with a young ballerina, Eduardo/Edward soon warms to the idea.) Step #3: replace Uncle E. with a new super-respectable tycoon named Charles Macy Barton. Who? None other than Charley Partanna, who--in a sort of My Fair Mogul sequence--is given a new identity (Charley P.'s death is faked), a new face, diction lessons, and biofeedback training in his new, WASP-y persona. But things don't go completely according to plan, of course. Grandpa Prizzi chooses an inconvenient moment to die, so his corpse must be farcically spirited away. Uncle E., cheated of his birthright, will do anything to get it back--including kidnapping Maerose and Charley's twin infant sons. (Charley turns hit man again to take revenge.) But, thanks to --among other things--Charley's control of 23,856 PACs in 43 states, the 1992 White House winds up as Prizzi's glow. . .with none other than Charles Macy Barton as Chief of Staff. The whimsical plotting here is too far-fetched--and too illogical even on its own fanciful terms--for sustained involvement. Neither Charley nor Maerose exerts as much charm as before. But readers with a taste for rough-edged satire will find considerable pleasure along the way--in the vitriolic swipes at US politics (""dear old coot"" Reagan above all), in the cheerfully grim mayhem, and in Condon's inventive and literally tasty prose. (""Charley entered Eduardo's apartment as bland as a Reblochon cheese."")

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION