Gomorrah | 
 enlarge | Author: Roberto Saviano
Creator: Virginia Jewiss
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Rating:  36 reviews
Sales Rank: 6272
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0374165270
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1060945
EAN: 9780374165277
ASIN: 0374165270
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Brand new Book, ALL days Low Price !
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Product Description
DIVDIVA groundbreaking major bestseller in Italy, IGomorrah /Iis Roberto Saviano#8217;s gripping nonfiction account of the decline of Naples under the rule of the Camorra, an organized crime network with a large international reach and stakes in construction, high fashion, illicit drugs, and toxic-waste disposal. Known by insiders as #8220;the System,#8221; the Camorra affects cities and villages along the Neapolitan coast, and is the deciding factor in why Campania, for instance, has the highest murder rate in all of Europe and whycancer levels there have skyrocketed in recent years.BRBRSaviano tells of huge cargoes of Chinese goods that are shipped to Naples and then quickly distributed unchecked across Europe. He investigates the Camorra#8217;s control of thousands of Chinese factories contracted to manufacture fashion goods, legally and illegally, for distribution around the world, and relates the chilling details of how the abusive handling of toxic waste is causing devastating pollution not only for Naples but also China and Somalia. In pursuit of his subject, Saviano worked as an assistant at a Chinese textile manufacturer, a waiter at a Camorra wedding, and on a construction site. A native of the region, he recalls seeing his first murder at the age of fourteen, and how his own father, a doctor, suffered a brutal beating for trying to aid an eighteen-year-old victim who had been left for dead in the street.BRBRIGomorrah /Iis a bold and important work of investigative writing that holds global significance, one heroic young man's impassioned story of a place under the rule of a murderous organization./DIV/DIV
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 unfortunately, this is JUST the top of the iceberg.. November 27, 2008
Un italiano
I.T.A.L.I.A. = In This Area Law Is Absent br / br /I'm italian.. I can tell you that we are full of laws, but they are meaningless, because against certain strong powers there is no defence in Italy.. in our parliament there are members that have committed crimes and that have been judged guilty, but nobody can touch them, and they happily rule.. Saviano has been able to reveal ONLY the top of the iceberg, that is how the criminal organizations work, but he will never be allowed to reveal the hidden part of the iceberg, that is how the Italian lobbies and politicians are linked to these criminals.. nobody is allowed to investigate here. br / br /Sorry, but I cannot say more that this, because for now I still have to live in Italy. br / br /
The other mobs in Italy November 18, 2008
Brian Leach (Fort Smith, AR United States)
Interesting overview of how integrated the mob is in Italian society. We hear all the time about the Sicilians - this book is strictly about Italian crime syndicates. Soon to be released as a movie...
Interesting look into real-life crime August 21, 2008
mzakal (Columbus, OH)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In America, we've almost romanticized the gangster lifestyle with depictions like those in the Godfather movies, Goodfellas, and the Sopranos. The diminished public presence of the American mafia has probably allowed us to forget the dark, violent gears that allow these machines to run. In this book, Roberto Saviano vividly describes the workings and rivalries of the Naples area, a place where crime families have nearly crippled the city. br / br /When you begin reading this, it is evident that some of the translation from Italian to English did not come through clearly. Some of Saviano's metaphors and similies come across as downright odd, but blame this on the difference of the languages rather than the author or the translator. The book jumps around to different topics in a seemingly random way. Nonetheless Saviano's writing is clear enough to show just how horrifying and violent these criminal endeavors can be. br / br /Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in organized crime nonfiction. We're saturated with fictional stories of the mafia, and it's truly striking to hear these real-life accounts of extreme violence and corruption. An interesting book all around, never feeling tedious despite the oddities of translation. br /
 Boring July 17, 2008
reenum (Kansas)
1 out of 12 found this review helpful
I picked this up expecting an interesting and in-depth look at the author's infiltration of the Mafia in Sicily. I didn't make it far enough to see if it actually happened. This book failed the 50 page rule, meaning that it didn't get to the point and was not interesting enough to compel me to read past page 50.
A Stilted Trip Through Unfamiliar Italy July 8, 2008
J. A. Walsh (Boston, MA, USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
A full-throttle look at Cammora crime from the nitty gritty ground level, "Gomorrah" is a look behind the curtain that suffers from an author with too intimate an approach to his subject. For a Neopolitan perhaps the geography, family and clan names, capos and underbosses, murders, victims and characters are a uniting thread; but, to the average American reader I think this translation of Saviano's originial Italian work lacks some critical elements that would help to make this story more than the timeline of crime it ends up being. br / br /There is no real protagonist to unite the series of seemingly only loosely-related vignettes, unless one counts Saviano himself, but his role is more that of tour guide, standard-bearer and narrator. br / br /Mixed in are some really interesting details about Cammora business, the purpose and organization of the system, and the lifestyle both for the connected and unconnected. But, these are sprinkled in among dizzying references to different criminal systems, families, clans and characters. Further complicating matters, the translation (I can't speak for whether it reflects the original work) is stark and breathless. In spite of the occasional turn of phrase, metaphor or analogy, the writing is spare and unadorned. br / br /All in all, a staccato and stilted trip through what remains -- even after reading -- an unfamiliar vantage point on Italy. br /
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