Author Guide · Film & Filmmaking
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Before he shot a frame of The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, then 32, cut up Mario Puzo’s novel, pasted the pages onto larger sheets in a three-ring binder and covered the margins with notes on what each scene needed and where it could go wrong. He took that binder to the set every day, and in 2016 it was published, all 784 pages, as The Godfather Notebook. It is one of only two books he has written under his own name; the other, Live Cinema and Its Techniques (2017), is about a new kind of film made live in front of an audience. Most of what there is to read about Coppola was written by people who watched him work: his wife Eleanor, the critic Peter Cowie, the biographers Michael Schumacher and Sam Wasson. This guide covers his 10 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 10 key books · 1979–2023 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Francis Ford Coppola has written two books: The Godfather Notebook (2016), his annotated copy of Puzo’s novel, and Live Cinema and Its Techniques (2017). He also co-wrote the published screenplay Apocalypse Now Redux (2000) with John Milius. The key books about him are Eleanor Coppola’s Notes (1979), Michael Schumacher’s biography (1999) and Sam Wasson’s The Path to Paradise (2023). Start with The Godfather Notebook; read on for what each of the others covers.
Where to Start with Francis Ford Coppola
If you want to see how he made The Godfather
→ The Godfather Notebook (2016) — his own working notes, page by page.
If you want the full life story
→ Francis Ford Coppola (1999) — the first big biography, published in 1999.
If you want the chaos of Apocalypse Now
→ Notes on the Making of Apocalypse Now (1979) — told from inside the production by his wife.
If you want his ideas about the future of film
→ Live Cinema and Its Techniques (2017).
10 Francis Ford Coppola Books, in Order
Notes on the Making of Apocalypse Now
Eleanor Coppola’s journal of the production of Apocalypse Now from 1976 to 1979, written during the long shoot in the Philippines and after. The footage she shot at the same time became the documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991), which she co-directed and which won an Emmy.
Coppola
The film critic Peter Cowie traces Coppola’s career film by film, analysing his techniques and how his Italian-American background shaped the work. It covers the box-office failures, the ups and downs of his Zoetrope studio and the death of his eldest son. Publishers Weekly found it admiring, and said it never fully reveals the man.
The Godfather Book
Cowie’s account of the making of all three Godfather films, from the directors who turned down the script to the casting problems of Part III in Rome. Published by Faber & Faber, it draws on access to Coppola’s archives and on interviews with Coppola, Mario Puzo, the Paramount executive Robert Evans, and members of the cast and crew.
Francis Ford Coppola
A 544-page biography published by Crown, not authorised by Coppola. Schumacher reconstructs the making of each film and covers the private crises: the polio that kept him in bed as a child, an affair that nearly ended his marriage, and the death of his son. Publishers Weekly called it brisk and astute but noted that it often reads as a defence of Coppola against his critics.
Apocalypse Now Redux
The screenplay of Apocalypse Now in its extended Redux version, credited to John Milius and Coppola and published by Talk Miramax Books in New York, illustrated with colour stills from the film. The war correspondent Michael Herr wrote the voice-over narration spoken by Martin Sheen. The original film shared the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1979.
Notes on a Life
Eleanor Coppola’s second book covers about thirty years of her life: raising their children Gian-Carlo, Roman and Sofia, and supporting her husband’s work on his films. Where Notes stays on one production, this one follows the family across decades.
The Godfather Notebook
A facsimile of the binder Coppola built before filming The Godfather: Puzo’s novel underlined and annotated, cut into sections and scenes, with each scene’s “core” marked and its “pitfalls” listed. He called it a “prompt book”, after the theatre tradition, and later said the script was “really an unnecessary document” because he could have made the film from the notebook alone. Published by Regan Arts in 784 pages, with his introduction and photographs from the set.
Live Cinema and Its Techniques
Coppola’s case for “live cinema”: a film performed, shot and edited in real time while the audience watches, but designed to look like a movie rather than live television. He describes the two proof-of-concept workshops he staged, with cameras working out their shots during the performance, and argues that technology from live sport and 24-hour news now makes it possible. Published by Liveright in September 2017 and dedicated to John Frankenheimer, who directed live drama for Playhouse 90.
Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli
The journalist Mark Seal’s account of how The Godfather got made: Paramount’s option on Puzo’s manuscript, the casting fights, the location scouting and the shoot, and the members of the Italian-American Mafia who objected to the novel’s portrayal of them and pushed for changes to the film. Published by Gallery Books in October 2021.
The Path to Paradise
Sam Wasson, given access to Coppola’s archives and hundreds of hours of interviews, follows his attempt to remake American filmmaking through American Zoetrope, the company he founded in San Francisco at 30. It covers his childhood with polio, his friendship and split with George Lucas, Eleanor’s view of her husband, the Apocalypse Now shoot in the Philippines, and the long road to Megalopolis. Leonard Maltin called it “not a conventional biography”.
In What Order to Read Francis Ford Coppola
Coppola’s two own books stand alone and can be read in any order. Start with The Godfather Notebook, which shows his working method on the film everyone knows, then read Live Cinema and Its Techniques to see where that method went fifty years later.
For the life, the books about him work best by period. Read the two Godfather books (Cowie and Seal) alongside the Notebook, Eleanor Coppola’s Notes with the Apocalypse Now Redux screenplay, and then one full biography: Schumacher for the career up to the late 1990s, Wasson for the later years and Megalopolis.
A reading path
1. The Godfather Notebook (2016)
2. Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli (2021)
3. Notes on the Making of Apocalypse Now (1979)
4. The Path to Paradise (2023)
5. Live Cinema and Its Techniques (2017)
The years · 1939–2025
Quick facts about Francis Ford Coppola
- Known for
- Francis Ford Coppola is known for directing The Godfather films and Apocalypse Now, and for co-founding the independent studio American Zoetrope.
- 1939
- Born in Detroit, Michigan
- 1969
- Founds American Zoetrope in San Francisco
- 1979
- Palme d’Or for Apocalypse Now
- 2025
- AFI Life Achievement Award
- Born
- 7 April 1939, Detroit, Michigan
- Education
- Theatre arts at Hofstra University (1960); MFA from UCLA film school (1967)
- Key films
- The Godfather (1972), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather Part II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Awards
- Five Academy Awards, including Best Director for The Godfather Part II; Palme d’Or in 1974 and 1979
- Honours
- Irving G. Thalberg Award (2010), Kennedy Center Honors (2024), AFI Life Achievement Award (2025)
- Family
- Married Eleanor Neil in 1963 (she died in 2024); children Gian-Carlo, Roman and Sofia
The red mark is 2016: The Godfather Notebook, the binder he used to make The Godfather, published in facsimile.
How Francis Ford Coppola Writes: From the Prompt Book to Live Cinema
Coppola writes the way a stage director prepares, which is where he started: he took a theatre arts degree at Hofstra before film school at UCLA. The Godfather Notebook is a prompt book in the theatre sense. He broke Puzo’s novel into sections and scenes, and for each one marked its core and listed the pitfalls to avoid. The result reads less like prose than like a set of decisions, made in advance so that he could hold on to them under pressure on set.
The same habit runs through his screenwriting. He shared an Academy Award for the screenplay of Patton (1970) with Edmund H. North, and won two more for adapting The Godfather and The Godfather Part II with Puzo. The published Apocalypse Now Redux screenplay is credited to him and John Milius, with the voice-over narration by Michael Herr.
Live Cinema and Its Techniques is his most technical book. It reads like a diary of experiments: the two workshops, at Oklahoma City Community College in 2015 and at UCLA in 2016, which tested a story about three generations of an Italian-American family, set against the invention of television. Reviewers found some passages dense, and Publishers Weekly ended its review hoping he would one day write a full memoir.
Frequently asked questions about Francis Ford Coppola’s books
How many books has Francis Ford Coppola written?
Two under his own name: The Godfather Notebook (2016) and Live Cinema and Its Techniques (2017). He is also co-author, with John Milius, of the published screenplay Apocalypse Now Redux (2000). The other seven books on this page are about him, by Eleanor Coppola, Peter Cowie, Michael Schumacher, Mark Seal and Sam Wasson.
What are Francis Ford Coppola’s books in order?
His own: Apocalypse Now Redux: An Original Screenplay (2000, with John Milius), The Godfather Notebook (2016) and Live Cinema and Its Techniques (2017). With the books about him, the full order on this page is Notes on the Making of Apocalypse Now (1979), Coppola (1990), The Godfather Book (1997), Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker’s Life (1999), Apocalypse Now Redux (2000), Notes on a Life (2008), The Godfather Notebook (2016), Live Cinema and Its Techniques (2017), Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli (2021) and The Path to Paradise (2023).
Where should I start with Francis Ford Coppola’s books?
The Godfather Notebook. It shows, page by page, how he turned Puzo’s novel into the film. If you want the life rather than the method, start with Sam Wasson’s The Path to Paradise (2023).
What is Francis Ford Coppola’s most famous book?
The Godfather Notebook (2016), the annotated binder he made before shooting The Godfather and used on set every day. He has said he could have made the film from the notebook alone.
What is The Godfather Notebook?
A facsimile of Coppola’s working copy of Mario Puzo’s novel. He pasted the pages into a three-ring binder, divided the book into scenes and wrote notes in the margins on each scene’s core and its pitfalls. Regan Arts published it in November 2016 in 784 pages, with an introduction by Coppola and photographs from the set.
What is live cinema?
Coppola’s term for a film that is performed, shot and edited in real time while the audience watches, but that looks like a movie rather than live television. He tested it in workshops at Oklahoma City Community College (2015) and UCLA (2016) and described the results in Live Cinema and Its Techniques (2017).
Did Coppola write the screenplay for The Godfather?
Yes, with Mario Puzo, who wrote the novel. They won the Academy Award for the adapted screenplay, and won again for The Godfather Part II. Coppola has called the script “really an unnecessary document”, because everything he needed was already in his notebook.
What was the controversy over Megalopolis?
In 2024 The Guardian and then Variety reported that Coppola had tried to hug and kiss topless and scantily clad female extras while filming a nightclub scene for Megalopolis. Coppola sued Variety for libel. In September 2026 the California Court of Appeal threw the suit out, finding some statements were opinion and that Coppola had not shown the others were false.
Is Francis Ford Coppola still alive?
Yes. He was born on 7 April 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, and lives in Napa, California. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2025. His wife Eleanor Coppola, author of two of the books on this page, died in 2024.
How many Oscars has Francis Ford Coppola won?
Five: Best Original Screenplay for Patton (shared with Edmund H. North), Best Adapted Screenplay for The Godfather (with Mario Puzo), and Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for The Godfather Part II. In 2010 he also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
Footnotes
- Francis Ford Coppola — Wikipedia
- The Godfather Notebook — Simon & Schuster
- Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Notebook — Fine Books Magazine
- Live Cinema and Its Techniques — Publishers Weekly, 2017
- Francis Ford Coppola on live cinema — WBUR Here & Now, 2017
- Appeals court tosses Coppola’s defamation suit — Courthouse News, 2026
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“My film is not about Vietnam, it is Vietnam.”
— Francis Ford Coppola, on Apocalypse Now at the Cannes Film Festival (1979)
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