For eight years, the journalist Roberto Saviano has faced constant threat of death for exposing the secrets of the Naples mafia in his book Gomorrah. Is the price of life under armed guard too much for a writer to pay?As a young writer growing up in Caserta, a suburb of Naples, I felt myself getting more and more angry. There was a war going on between two mafia clans for control of the territory, and violence between them spilled into the streets. I wanted to tell the world what this war zone was like: the victims’ families tearing their clothes, the stink of piss from a man who knew he was going to die and couldn’t control his fear, people shot in the street because they looked like the intended victim. I got to know the workers in industries run by the Camorra. I got to know the messengers, the look-outs who worked for the clan. I read court records, news reports, trial transcripts. I pulled their stories together, the stories of my neighbourhood, and published a book called Gomorrah. Something about it touched a nerve. It became an instant bestseller – so many people bought it that the Camorra couldn’t ignore it.Not long after the book came out in 2006, someone left a leaflet in my mother’s postbox. I was living in Naples, but she was still in Caserta. It showed a photograph of me, with a pistol to my head, and the word “Condemned”. Soon afterwards, I was invited to give an address at a gala to inaugurate the new school year in the town of Casal di Principe, home of... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
Last December, the New York Times published a story about something that happened during an avalanche. Something bad, I think, and likely thrilling, evocative, and perhaps, in the end, a stirring illustration of the strength of the human spirit. The story, called “Snow Fall,” was a huge hit.... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2013-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Doubleday has announced that it will be giving away free ebooks of Dan Brown's international bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" this week. Doubleday has announced that it will be giving away free ebooks of Dan Brown's international bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" this week. The free digital download... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With Knopf set to release Haruki Murakamis 1Q84 this week in the U.S., the latest novel from the award-winning Japanese author was an instant bestseller in Japan and debuted at #3 in France in September. Topping the French fiction chart last month was The Passenger, the most recent thriller... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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