The Bent Page

While perusing my bookshelf the other day, I came across Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano. Quickly, I realized I was remiss in not reviewing this book here and in my other venues. Gomorrah is a view from inside the horrow show that is organized crime in Naples Italy. Flipping through the book, the stories of heartbreak, violence, and extortion came back to mind. Too often, crime becomes mythology. Bosses are wise men, underlings are doing the best the can, morality twists in moronic convulsions. Saviano shows there is nothing glamorous or likable about organized criminals. They cheat, steal, and kill with wanton vigor, always on the lookout for the next opportunity to abuse the innocent.

Where Mr. Saviano excels most is in the intimate accounts of individuals caught up in the mayhem caused by organized crime. The tailors, the shop keepers, the truck drivers, regular people are the most frequent victims. However, these are more than tales of woe. They are explanations of exactly how things go wrong, how difficult they are to fix, how there are too few good guys doing the right thing.

The author ventured into this world himself; he did not simply read other reports or talk to a few retired policemen. For his trouble, Mr. Saviano lives under constant threat from the subject he eloquently exposes. Good luck to him. He’s going to need it.