Beauty and the Inferno by Roberto Saviano

Roberto Saviano’s Beauty and the Inferno has one of the most powerful and honest prefaces I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading – it blew me away frankly – and I’m still reeling days after reading it for the first time! His passion for truth and justice is undeniable and if ever a book warranted reading after an introduction, then this is, without hesitation, one such title.

In Beauty and the Inferno Saviano delves into politics, corruption, drugs, meeting Salman Rushdie at the Swedish Academy, sport and music, sharing a variety of articles – 25 in all – and frank opinions along the way. The book touches you in a way few titles can – it will shock, it will tease, anger and entertain but most of all it will educate.

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.

In the grand scheme of things it’s almost impossible to single out any of the essays from this collection for they are all as powerful as each other, in their own way, but for me – and I’m going to immediately contradict what I’ve just said – four articles stood head and shoulders above the others namely: Brittle Bones, Playing it All, Miriam Makeba and When the Earth Shudders, Cement Kills.

In When the Earth Shudders, Cement Kills Saviano takes a look at the legacy of the earthquake in Abruzzo (epicentre in L’Aquila, capital of Abruzzo) in April 2009 where more than 300 people perished. Any earthquake – wherever it may be – will involve a certain amount of rebuilding – and Saviano believes that this leads to corruption (in L’Aquila) – political and criminal monopolies – which in itself causes great anxiety and consternation in the local population. The devastation we discover affords less than an honourable class to operate and profiteering is expectantly rife – the mafia clans, the ‘Ndrangheta and the Camorra families sharing the spoils. It doesn’t stop with the so called cement bosses, Abruzzo is well known for the dumping of toxic waste in the 1990’s – once again behind it was the Camorra, one of the oldest and largest criminal organisations in Italy.

Lionel Messi, the renowned Argentinean and FC Barcelona footballer shares the spotlight in Playing it All where Saviano gives a great insight into the man and the player and what he had to overcome on his way to becoming arguably the greatest player ever to have graced the hallowed turf. His account is mesmerising and I have to admit I had no idea Messi had it so tough – and how close the world came to not witnessing such a prodigious talent – but to share more about his struggles in this review would deprive the reader an opportunity to read first hand the strength the footballer showed on his journey to world domination. It will surprise and shock – it did me.

Another essay, That Man That Was Donnie Brasco, aside from the standout four, shares the events of a meeting held between Saviano and Joe Pistone – better known as Donnie Brasco – where the pair discuss his six years as an undercover FBI agent. After waiting a while outside the restaurant for Pistone to show up, Saviano eventually has enough of waiting and enters only to find Brasco waiting for him inside!

‘It’s better to wait inside and eat than stand outside unless you want to be someone’s target’ We shake hands and he looks me up and down “Rarely do you see and Italian so poorly dressed

During his role he shared the inherent disappointment at only seeing his three daughters once every six months and how he went home thinking he was a father but in reality he was not. Sacrifices were made for his society and country and despite having a $150,000 price on his head – he never showed fear.

One person’s pain is everyone’s pain. And as such, one person’s rights become the rights of all

Published by MacLehose Press Beauty and the Inferno is available in Hardback from Amazon.

Michel Petrucciani

In perhaps the most poignant essay of the collection, for me at least, Brittle Bones, Saviano shares the story of Michel Petrucciani, a gifted pianist who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta – a condition causing extremely fragile bones – better known as Brittle Bones Disease.

Michel was born with broken bones and it was to stay with him the rest of his life. He fought hard to overcome the disease, playing on the piano his father bought for him while trying to strengthen his hands. As if Brittle Bones Disease wasn’t enough he would spend months in bed at a time (in a full body cast) and never grew taller than a metre which produced problems of their own when trying to play the piano – but he never allowed anything stop him from playing.

It truly is an inspirational story of one man’s battle against adversity, eventually playing with Jazz greats Dizzie Gillespie and Stephane Grappelli and performing at Carnegie Hall before Pope John Paul II.

For me, Brittle Bones afforded me the quote of the book when one of Michel’s close friends discussed how he managed to attract his fair share of beautiful women – either as wives or girlfriends.

“When I saw Michel, I saw everything that he imagined, everything he was. And he was beautiful”.

Beauty is not just a physical trait, elegance, lightness or charm. It is being able to show someone who and what you are and to resemble everything you imagine yourself to be. Whenever I think about beauty I think about Petrucciani.

The quote is indicative of the mesmerising narrative found throughout the book. It’s hard to put into words – and do the prose justice at the same time – how engaging this collection of essays is, the narrative, translated by Oonagh Stransky, takes the reader on a journey of emotive discovery and learning.

Few people have had to endure – or will ever have the courage to do so – what Roberto Saviano has since the release of Gomorrah in 2006. In Beauty and the inferno he continues to name names and never shies away from adversity or death. The fact that this book took two years to publish is testament to the dogged determination of Roberto and the crew at Maclehose Press. Exceptional.

Published by MacLehose Press Beauty and the Inferno is available in Hardback from Amazon.

Suggested Soundtrack while reading – Ornella Venoni’s Ai Miei Amici Cantautori & Adesso