Sorry but I have to chime in on the whole "who he should be reading" thing.

I won't sit here and say that Conrad, Faulkner, and Co. aren't awesomely great writers, but for 75% of high school students, those writers are too much for kids who are more interested in trying to be cool and getting laid. At least that is how it was when I was in HS.

In today's society, we should be happy that high school students are reading anything, so The Godfather would be an excellent book to read in HS.

I wasn't mature enough to get into Shakespeare and Joyce until college, and I'm not sure I could get into Ulysses even now.

High Schools should expand their ciriculum and allow students to pick from a list the books they want to read. Otherwise kids are just going to be reaching for the Cliff Notes when the usual suspects are rammed down their throat. Because nothing is more boring than Ethan Frome.

Besides, The Godfather, trashy as it may be, does have some excellent themes for High School students to chew on and learn from.

Just my 2¢.