Threats – Mario Puzo

When the novel “The Godfather” was published, Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) threatened the author of the book, Mario Puzo (1920-1999), because he believed that he served the author as an inspiration for the fictional mobster, singer and actor in the book, Johnny Fontane.

Puzo was enraged after hearing Sinatra’s threats:

“I do remember him saying that if it wasn’t that I was so much older than he, he would beat the hell out of me. What hurt was that here he was, a northern Italian, threatening me, a southern Italian, with physical violence. This was roughly equivalent to Einstein pulling a knife on Al Capone. It just wasn’t done.”

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Artistic vanity – Gore Vidal

After one international meeting of writers in Sofia (Bulgaria), British novelist Anthony Powell (1905-2000) was surprised when he saw that American writer Gore Vidal (1925) is curiously flipping through Bulgarian daily newspapers searching for culture articles.

- Here I am! I knew it! - enthusiastically shouted Vidal.

When he saw that Powell was staring at him with puzzled look, Vidal explained to him what was going on:

- I just love it when my picture comes out in some newspaper. That is why I always sit down next to a man wearing a turban. Photographers always take pictures of them. The same happened here. I was sitting next to a writer from India – and they took picture of me.

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