Roberto Saviano Books

By the author of Gomorrah, a gripping novel set in the organized crime world of the children's gangs of Naples - the sequel to Saviano's first novel, The Piranhas.

For the first time since the publication of his internationally bestselling novel, Gomorrah, Roberto Saviano shares his early-life experience with the violence of the Neapolitan Mafia and how exposing them irrevocably changed his life.

Since publishing his searing expose of their criminal activities, the author has received so many death threats from the Camorra that he has been assigned police protection. In pursuit of his subject, Saviano worked as an assistant at a Chinese textile manufacturer and on the construction site, both controlled by "the System".

From the author of the #1 international bestseller Gomorrah comes an electrifying investigation into the international cocaine trade, revealing its hidden role in the global economy. Among narco-traffickers, "zero zero zero" signifies the purest grade of cocaine, and this work explores the inner workings of the trade—its rules, armies, and far-reaching impact. Gomorrah, Saviano's explosive account of the Neapolitan mob, led to his living under police protection for over eight years due to its explosive revelations. During this time, he has gained insights from law enforcement agencies worldwide, broadening his perspective on the drug trade as a global corporate entity. This synthesis of literary narrative and geopolitical analysis unveils the complex money-laundering operations that enable the drug trade, often with the complicity of major banks. Saviano tracks the power shift in the cocaine trade from Colombia to Mexico, detailing how Latin American cartels have formed alliances with Italian crime syndicates, Russians, and Africans. He reveals the increasing sophistication of these entities as they diversify while also highlighting the escalating violence in their quest for power. Saviano’s work connects disparate phenomena into a single epic narrative, offering a gripping and unfiltered examination of a dark force in our economy.

The first novel, already an international bestseller, by the author of Gomorrah, set in the organized crime world of the children's gangs of Naples.

Roberto Saviano is best known for his work on the Italian mafia, but Beauty and the Inferno also tackles universal themes with great insight and humanity, with urgency, and often with anger. This important collection includes essays on the legacy of the earthquake at L'Aquila, a town at risk of becoming overrun by mafia; on boxing as an escape route; on the life of the legendary South African jazz singer, Miriam Makeba; on an encounter with Salman Rushdie, and a tribute to Frank Miller, author of the graphic novel 300; on Michael Herr's Dispatches. One essay reflects on the aftermath of the publication of his book and subsequent film, Gomorrah, and how his life has been conditioned by the mafia's death threats, and the final essay in the collection celebrates the life of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

"This is a deeply personal and candid portrait of Italy today- a place of trafficking and toxic waste, where votes can be bought and sold, where organized crime ravages both north and south - yet also where many courageous individuals defy the system, and millions work tirelessly for a better future."

Todavía estoy vivo es un libro único, una colaboración insólita entre dos grandísimos narradores. Se trata del relato íntimo y descarnado de los últimos quince años en la vida de Roberto Saviano, en los que se ha visto obligado a vivir en la clandestinidad, por estar amenazado de muerte por la Camorra. Sus palabras dialogan con el trazo ágil y simbólico de Asaf Hanuka; recuerdan los días de una libertad perdida, la del niño apasionado de las historietas y que disfrutaba jugando con su hermano, hasta transformarse en un presente claustrofóbico, el precio a pagar por haber alzado la voz y que lo obliga a la vivir siempre pegado a sus escoltas. Es la vida de un hombre herido, pero que sigue luchando

Gomora je prvo knjižno delo Roberta Saviana (1979), novinarja, pisatelja in diplomiranega filozofa iz Neaplja, torej iz mesta, ki mu v veliki meri vlada camorra, tamkajšnja različica italijanske mafije. Prav odraščanje v takšnem okolju ga je spodbudilo h globljemu preučevanju tega fenomena, ki se ga loteva z najraznovrstnejših vidikov, od čisto splošnih opisov do osebnih zgodb njegovih prijateljev in znancev. Knjiga ni zgolj navajanje statističnih podatkov in nizanje grozljivih opisov krvavih obračunov med posameznimi mafijskimi družinami, pripada tako raziskovalnemu novinarstvu kot književnosti ter je polna grozot in vznemirljivega čara. Avtor piše v prvi osebi in njegova pripoved potegne bralca v brezno, v katero ne seže nobena domišljija. Prvič je podrobneje predstavljena tudi vloga žensk, ki postajajo znotraj kriminalne organizacije vedno pomembnejše in celo prevzemajo vodilne položaje. Po izidu Gomore, ki je postala velika mednarodna uspešnica in je bila doslej prevedena v 42 državah, je pisatelj prejel številne smrtne grožnje, zato ga nenehno spremljajo osebni stražarji.