Order of Book Series
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Mario Puzo Books in Order

15 books are credited to Mario Puzo, published between 1955 and 2018; 3 of them appeared after Mario Puzo's death in 1999. The first book is The Dark Arena (1955) and the newest is Me and Mario (2018). Publication order is the reading order below.

Mario Puzo also publishes as Mario Cleri.

Books
15
Published
1955–2018
Pages on record
4,416 in 12 of 15 books
Reading time
74–110 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,416 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 15 titles with a page count on record.

See all 15 books in order Printable Mario Puzo checklist
Photo of Mario Puzo, author

Organised crime is Mario Puzo's subject. The Godfather (1969) sits in the middle of a catalogue of 15 books that starts with The Dark Arena (1955) and takes in The Fortunate Pilgrim (1965), Fools Die (1978), The Sicilian (1984) and The Fourth K (1990). Mafia families, Italian American immigrants and gambling run through the subjects, and nothing later than 2018 is catalogued.

How many Mario Puzo books are there?

Mario Puzo has 15 books, released between 1955 and 2018. 3 of them were published after Mario Puzo's death in 1999. 3 of them belong to the Godfather series.

Mario Puzo Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 15 Mario Puzo books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Dark Arena by Mario Puzo (1955)
  2. Cover of The Fortunate Pilgrim by Mario Puzo (1965)
  3. Cover of The Runaway Summer of Davie Shaw by Mario Puzo (1966)
  4. Cover of Six Graves to Munich by Mario Puzo (1967)
  5. Cover of The Godfather by Mario Puzo, book 1 of the Godfather series (1969)
  6. Cover of The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions by Mario Puzo (1972)
  7. Cover of Inside Las Vegas by Mario Puzo (1977)
  8. Cover of The Sicilian by Mario Puzo, book 2 of the Godfather series (1984)
  9. Cover of The Fourth K by Mario Puzo (1990)
  10. Cover of The Last Don by Mario Puzo (1996)
  11. Cover of Omerta by Mario Puzo, book 3 of the Godfather series (1999)
  12. Cover of The Family by Mario Puzo (2001)
  1. 1
    The Dark Arena1955 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1955288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Fortunate Pilgrim1965 · 304 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1965304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Runaway Summer of Davie Shaw1966 · 119 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1966119
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Six Graves to Munich1967 · confirmed 2/4
    1967–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The GodfatherGodfather #11969 · 444 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1969444
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions1972 · 252 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1972252
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Inside Las Vegas1977 · 253 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1977253
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Fools Die1978 · 531 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1978531
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The SicilianGodfather #21984 · 416 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Fourth K1990 · 496 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1990496
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Last Don1996 · 512 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996512
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    OmertaGodfather #31999 · 369 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999369
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Family2001 · 432 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2001432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Making of the Godfather2013 · confirmed 2/4
    2013–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Me and Mario2018 · confirmed 2/4
    2018–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Mario Puzo characters in order

The character linked below has its own reading-order page.

Mario Puzo books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.

Godfather books in order

3 books by Mario Puzo
  1. 1. The Godfather
  2. 2. The Sicilian
  3. 3. Omerta

Standalone books

12 books

12 Mario Puzo titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Mario Puzo Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Mario Puzo books run from The Dark Arena (1955) to Me and Mario (2018), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Mario Puzo in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Mario Puzo books in order?

You only need to read Mario Puzo books in order within the Godfather series, which holds 3 of the 15 Mario Puzo books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Mario Puzo

Start with The Godfather (1969), the first The Godfather book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Dark Arena (1955).

What is the newest Mario Puzo book?

Me and Mario (2018) is the newest Mario Puzo book released so far.

Is there a new Mario Puzo book coming?

No next Mario Puzo book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Mario Puzo has won

Wikidata records 1 award for Mario Puzo. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation1979Wonfor Superman

Mario Puzo at a glance

Died
Mario Puzo died in 1999, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Mario Puzo are still being published after Mario Puzo's death in 1999; the newest appeared in 2018.
Release pace
Mario Puzo books have appeared about one every 5 years on average.
Length
4,416 pages across the 12 of 15 books with a recorded length, a median of 392 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Mario Puzo books, 4 of 15, were published in the 1960s.

What the Mario Puzo books are about

13 of the 15 Mario Puzo books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: criminals is tagged on 4 of 13. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.