Flip Through Aspen Author Mark Seal's New Book, Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli

Aspen author Mark Seal’s new book explores the making of The Godfather, 50 years after its premiere.

Aspen writer Mark Seal penned his newest book published by Simon.

Schuster focusing on behind-the-scenes stories from the masterminds that launched The Godfather.

For Vanity Fair contributing editor Mark Seal, 1972 was a life-changing year. The Aspen-based writer, then a college freshman, was in Memphis over spring break when he watched The Godfather for the first time. “When I walked into the theater I was still a kid, and when I walked out I was no longer a kid,” he remembers. “I kind of felt like I grew up in three hours.” Seal’s new book, Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather (Simon & Schuster), released in November, and comes just in time for the film’s 50th anniversary in March. In it, he shares intimate, behind-the-scenes stories and interviews with larger-than-life personalities, like the late Paramount studio chief Robert Evans and director Francis Ford Coppola. “Even when you watch it now, it’s so fresh and new, it doesn’t feel dated at all,” says Seal. “I think Mario Puzo first in writing the novel and then Francis Coppola in writing the screenplay and directing the film really focused on these individuals as family men. They have wives, mothers, daughters and sons, so I think that what gave the book and the movie so much heart is you see behind the gruesome things that happen. That’s what made it magical, and I think today, 50 years later, that’s still why people are fascinated by it.”