Can a non-fictional book be as interesting as a page-turner fictional plot?
Can it be at the same time a tycoon’s biography, a mafia tale, a gangster story, a political thriller, an essay on democracy, a dystopia, a sociological analysis of a nation, a scandalous sex story? If the subject-matter is Silvio Berlusconi’s incredible story and Italy, the answer is yes.
This book, in fact, is a unique portrait of Italy’s godfather and also a detailed picture of Italian society, an attempt to let the foreign reader understand how it has been possible for a mafia-linked business magnate and media tycoon, constantly in trouble with justice and drenched in vice, to become the most popular political leader, Prime Minister and the absolute master of the country for the last twenty years.
It is evident that Berlusconi is the personification of corruption, of disrespect for the law, of the liaison organized crime – politics, of immoral behaviour, typical features of that ‘immoral majority’ of the country. Still, there are many open questions that this book tries to answer:
- How come Berlusconi grabbed complete control of all Italian information and used it as a Weapon of Mass Deception that turned viewers into faithful voters?
- How was he able to pass laws ad-personam that made him almost untouchable by the Judicial Power and favoured his business and financial activities in an unfair game?
- Can we say that Berlusconi is the very symbol of a concentration of political, economic and media power in one single person never seen before, a fact that has created the greatest conflicts of interests in the Western World, or is he just another pawn in a bigger game?
- What is hidden under Italy’s well-known surface beauty, artistry and creativity? Does Dante’s underworld Inferno still exist today?
The incredible story
Of a media corrupt magnate who was able to rule a democratic western country for twenty years thanks to the concentration of media, political, economic power in his hands.
Reality surpassed fiction
This book shows the risks democracy is facing in western countries, as anticipated by some ‘dystopian’ writers in the XX Century.
A controversial vision of Italy
Italy, the land of contradictions: beauty, art, creativity, artistry VS. a corrupt malfunctioning society with no civic consciousness.
Vittorio Vandelli is a teacher of English Language and Literature, a translator, an essayist and a writer of fiction.
He was born and raised in the country in which he still lives, Italy, the cradle of the best and the worst.
He went to grammar school in the early seventies, a time of high ideals of change that taught him to see behind closed doors and to love folk and rock protest music, becoming a musician himself. His latest performance is a live tribute to American folk protest music, titled The Sound of the Greenwich Village.
He has written articles and essays on education and a series of satirical novels and short-stories on the Italian school system: Il professor Bingo (2000), Il professor Bingo e il nuovo che avanza (2001), Questa scuola non è un'azienda (2006), Il professor Bingo e le Idi di Marzo (2008), Le Pillole del prof. Bingo 2000-2010. He has also published noir novels: Scrivere o Uccidere (1989), Runaway - fuga a Venezia (2003), Dark City, (2013).
Fascinating story… good topical subject. Great read, fantastic feature. A call to action to your reader.
Alison Jones publisher, Practical Inspirational Publishing
Incredibly brave… the book is valuable… Berlusconi is a huge enigma… I like to buy these journalist’s books… incredibly brave to have written it in English… tremendous subject
Toby Mundy literary agent, Toby Mundy Associates (TMA)
I found myself hugely engaged because one couldn’t fail to be with the subject and also with your charm…
Marc Lucas literary agent, chairman of Lucas Alexander Whitley (LAW)
It’s got merit… incredibly interesting topic… I am glad you brought it out.
Lorella Belli literary agent, Lorella Belli Associates (LBA)
I have read your book with great interest. It’s truly amazing to read about a culture so unbelievable and impenetrable to an outsider.
Anthony Drury Principal at Language Studies International Brighton
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