Prizzi's Honor: Difference between revisions
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==Plot summary== | ==Plot summary== | ||
The opening lines of the [[New York Times]] review summarize the complexities of the novel: | The opening lines of the [[New York Times]] review summarize the complexities of the novel: | ||
<blockquote>CHARLEY PARTANNA, underboss of the Prizzi crime family, has a problem. He's just bumped off a traitor in Vegas who'd fleeced the organization to the tune of $720,000 - and now he's discovered that his new girlfriend, Irene, was the dead man's wife. As if that weren't enough of a headache, Charley's also learned that she's been augmenting her income as a tax consultant by working as a freelance hitter, and that she's now been offered a contract by a family rival to ''do the number'' on him. ''What a business for a woman!'' Charley grouses. ''This is a serious thing. We were going to get married.'' ''You think she decided what business?'' asks his father, Angelo, consigliere to the Prizzis. ''She's an American! She had a chance to win even more money so she grabbed it!''</blockquote> | <blockquote>CHARLEY PARTANNA, underboss of the Prizzi crime family, has a problem. He's just bumped off a traitor in Vegas who'd fleeced the organization to the tune of $720,000 - and now he's discovered that his new girlfriend, Irene, was the dead man's wife. As if that weren't enough of a headache, Charley's also learned that she's been augmenting her income as a tax consultant by working as a freelance hitter, and that she's now been offered a contract by a family rival to ''do the number'' on him. ''What a business for a woman!'' Charley grouses. ''This is a serious thing. We were going to get married.'' ''You think she decided what business?'' asks his father, Angelo, consigliere to the Prizzis. ''She's an American! She had a chance to win even more money so she grabbed it!''<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/18/books/for-love-and-money.html?searchResultPosition=6 ''New York Times'' review]</ref></blockquote> | ||
Complexity builds upon complexity, irony builds upon irony, murder follows murder, and tension mounts as the improbable story of the two killers races to its climax. | Complexity builds upon complexity, irony builds upon irony, murder follows murder, and tension mounts as the improbable story of the two killers races to its climax. | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/18/books/for-love-and-money.html?searchResultPosition=6 ''New York Times'' review] | *[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/18/books/for-love-and-money.html?searchResultPosition=6 ''New York Times'' review] | ||
Revision as of 13:27, 7 December 2019
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 main protagonist is a top member of the family named Charlie Partanna. It was adapted into a successful film of the same name.
Plot summary
The opening lines of the New York Times review summarize the complexities of the novel:
CHARLEY PARTANNA, underboss of the Prizzi crime family, has a problem. He's just bumped off a traitor in Vegas who'd fleeced the organization to the tune of $720,000 - and now he's discovered that his new girlfriend, Irene, was the dead man's wife. As if that weren't enough of a headache, Charley's also learned that she's been augmenting her income as a tax consultant by working as a freelance hitter, and that she's now been offered a contract by a family rival to do the number on him. What a business for a woman! Charley grouses. This is a serious thing. We were going to get married. You think she decided what business? asks his father, Angelo, consigliere to the Prizzis. She's an American! She had a chance to win even more money so she grabbed it![1]
Complexity builds upon complexity, irony builds upon irony, murder follows murder, and tension mounts as the improbable story of the two killers races to its climax.