false 74222269 697731 3690851 0312427794 9780312427795 15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255798939m/3690851.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3690851.Gomorrah_A_Personal_Journey_into_the_Violent_International_Empire_of_Naples_Organized_Crime_System 3.32 38 A New York Times Notable Book of 2007

"Part economic analysis, part social history, part cri de coeur, this crushing testimonial is the most important book to come out of Italy in years. . . . I could not get this brave book out of my head."--The New York Times Book Review

An unprecedented bestseller in Italy, this insider account traces the grim decline of the city of Naples under the rule of the Camorra, a globalized crime network far more powerful and violent than the Mafia. Since seeing his first murder victim, at thirteen, Roberto Saviano has watched the changes in his home city. For Gomorrah, he disappeared into the Camorra, and witnessed at close range its audacious, sophisticated, and far-reaching corruption.

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Saviano paints a powerful indictment, naming names as he knits together a story that reaches Venezuela, China, Scottland and Spain. He grew up in the shadow of the Camorra, saw his first murder when he was 13, and wants the system to end.

This book is almost worthy of four stars, and I'm not sure if it's the author or the translator who keeps it from reaching a higher plane. Unfortunately, a number of times Saviano takes us through events that just don't make chronological sense. For example, at one point he writes that events in 2002 created a shift in the criminal culture that resulted in massacres - then later dates those deaths to 2001.

Many of these missteps take place in the longest chapter of the book, "The Secondigliano War," which, at 75 pages, is also the weakest. Here we read about internal battles amongst Camorra clans with few citations and few specifics. Saviano is weakest when he generalizes. He is at his best when he tells us what he has seen -- gifted tailors paid low wages to sew dresses for the rich and famous, chemical vapors drifting upwards from illegal landfills, hundreds of mourners silently protesting the assassination of an outspoken priest.

These stories cry out to be told. This is an important book.]]>