Simon, New York’s top organic grocery store owner has a secret: his dad is the head of one of New York’s biggest mob families. When his dad dies, Simon agrees to head the Family, provided that instead of murder, numbers and other rackets, the mob uses its muscle to enforce green regulations and promote healthy eating habits. At first the mob’s hit men and extortionists resent being pressed into green service, but they soon become Simon’s biggest supporters. Seemingly overnight, the city becomes literally cleaned up. Simon, who had planned on succeeding his dad temporarily, now finds he likes his new position as the head of the Family. However, the green world doesn’t accept him because he’s running a crime family, and the crime world doesn’t trust him because he’s run afoul of the Feds. Simon takes his wife, Marla, to his ancestral homeland in Italy, for a much-needed sabbatical – and gets even further into trouble.
Loosely based on Mario Puzo''s runaway hit The Godfather, THE GREENFATHER showcases Marshall’s comic dialogue, honed year after year in late night television, in the grand tradition of classic mob comedy, like Analyze This and Analyze That. Packed with larger than life goons, right-hand men, Feds and green fanatics, THE GREENFATHER satirizes the environmental movement, crime, families, and crime families.
THE GREENFATHER is sharp, hilarious, and takes no prisoners, except the ones who are supposed to go there. It goes well with a light salad of radicchio and cherry plum tomatoes.
Industry Reviews
"Emmy-nominated TV writer Marshall's debut novel is a hilarious satire, delightfully poking fun at the Godfather movies, organized crime, organic food, health food stores, vegans and society's goofy fascinations with gangsters and granola. . . . Even Don Corleone would laugh at this clever, funny story." -Publishers Weekly
"The name of the game is entertainment here, and Marshall wields petty bickering, wordplay, and exaggeration like razor-sharp weapons, slicing and dicing the reader." -Manhattan Book Review
"Original, entertainingly laugh out loud funny, and a simply fascinating read from cover to cover, "The Greenfather" is truly exceptional and highly recommended." -Midwest Book Review
"Terribly clever . . . a lightning-fast read." -Washington Independent Review of Books
"When it comes to getting people to recycle, should we simply make them an offer they can't refuse?" -Tarrytown Daily Voice
"At The Final Edition Radio Hour we know John as one of our most uncompromising political satirists, but The Greenfather has him in far more genial mode as he explores the delicious comic premise of a mob capo with a social conscience. Every chapter is crammed with fall-on-the-floor funny dialogue as he pursues this premise to its absurd-though logical-conclusion. The Greenfather is a gloriously silly work in the grand tradition of mob comedy that goes all the way back to Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot." -Tony Hendra, Co-Editor-in-Chief, National Lampoon; Co-Producer, The Final Edition Radio Hour
"The amazing John Marshall hilariously captures `family' dynamics with something I thought impossible-a brilliant new twist." -Lizz Winstead, Co-Creator, The Daily Show; Co-Founder, Lady Parts Justice
"I've been a long time fan of John Marshall and his brilliant, comedic mind. His debut novel, The Greenfather, is an absolute gem! I just finished it and can't wait to read it again and again!" -Adam Wade, 20-Time Moth Champion
