Prizzi's Glory

The Prizzi family, the most lovable band of killers since Arsenic and Old Lace , returns in Condon's hilarious third and final entry in his thugs-to-riches saga of don Corrado Prizzi's billion-dollar Mafia clan. As the 1992 presidential elections approach, the Prizzis plot their most brazen foray yet into the American dream. With their sights set on nothing less than the entire executive branch of the government, the family attempts the impossible: the transformation of Charley Partanna, the slow-witted hit man with a glare that could melt a sawed-off shotgun, into the country's most respected and elegant businessman, a cross between Lee Iaccoca and William F. Buckley Jr. The stage is thus set for a battle between Maerose Prizzi's Machiavellian ambitions and the old-world Sicilian traditions that have ruled the Prizzi family for 700 years. Prizzi's Glory is a classic black comedy, a send-up of national elections, nouvelle society, corporate management and celebrity worship. Condon's ear for dialogue has never been keener, and this razor-sharp satire on the American dream is the most cynical and entertaining view of U.S. politics and business since S. J. Perelman. Required reading for the November elections. (September)