The Fortunate Pilgrim, 1965 - 1997

Series 3 contains manuscript material for both the original (1965) and the reprinting (1997) of Mario Puzo's semi-autobiographical novel The Fortunate Pilgrim. The book tells the story of an Italian immigrant family living in Depression-era New York. The main character and matriarch in the novel, Lucia Santa Angeluzzi-Corbo, is based on Puzo's mother.

An early typescript for The Fortunate Pilgrim as well as a later edited version can be found in... this series. Both include handwritten notations, which reveal something of Puzo's editorial process at-work. The Fortunate Pilgrim touches upon themes-most notably organized crime and the Italian immigrant experience-that will reach their apex in The Godfather five years later.