Gomorrah: insider view of the mafia



Gomorrah has become an international publishing sensation. In Italy it has sold a million copies and it has been translated into 33 other languages. A theatrical version of the book has already been performed, and a major film is currently under production.

Not bad going for a first book, especially considering the author is just 28. However the subject matter – the Neapolitan Mafia known as the Camorra – has meant the author, Roberto Saviano, has paid a very high price. Saviano is scathing about the mafia gangs and their “system”. At a huge public meeting in his hometown he once called on people to take action: “Don’t be afraid, kick them out – they’re worth nothing”. Subsequently he has lived under police protection for the last year. The reason for the book’s success is that it is told from the inside. Saviano worked for a Chinese textile manufacturer linked to the Camorra, as a waiter at a Camorra wedding and as a labourer on a Camorra-controlled building site. He describes a world in which people live in fear, have no rights and think “democracy” is a sick charade. The Labour-type Democratic Party has a stronghold in Naples – which hit the headlines recently with a massive rubbish crisis, partly caused by Camorra interference. It has avoided discussion of Camorra influence. The lack of a political alternative is one of the reasons for people’s ignorance over the mafia.