Books
The Piranhas: The Boy Bosses of Naples

by Roberto Saviano
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, September 2018, $27

Roberto Saviano, author behind the journalistic look at organized crime in Naples, Italy, in Gomorrah (2007), returns to the scene of the crimes with a brilliantly realized fictional take on the Southern Italian crime world in The Piranhas: The Boy Bosses of Naples.

The Piranhas is a novel that reads like nonfiction. An opening note by Saviano reads, “[W]hat you are about to read actually occurred. Facts have been modified...in order to make a violent and complex world more comprehensible.”

That world has been narrowed to focus on a group of 10 adolescent boys who want to own Naples. They also want “fine clothing and displays of wealth,” luxury cars, gold Rolexes, Valentino sneakers, bespoke suits, Dolce & Gabbana underwear, bottomless flutes of Veuve Clicquot, and to be “lusted after by women and envied by men.”

In order to achieve this, they form a paranza, an Italian word for “boats that go out to catch fish through the trickery of light.” The leader of the pack is 15-year-old Nicolas Fiorillo, aka the Maraja. In this subculture of crime, nicknames are earned, given to you by someone else. One’s “monicker is more important than your real name,” and Nicolas’ comes from his ambition to have 24-hour access to the private room of the New Maharaja nightclub, an exclusive spot that caters to businessmen, sports stars, notaries, lawyers, and judges.

Nicolas rules the gang by two overarching principles—Machiavellianism and the time-honored invective Adda muri mamma. The latter can be translated as “May my mother die,” and is used as a sort of solemn oath, not wholly unlike swearing on your mother’s grave. From Machiavelli’s The Prince, he learns that it is “better to have a reputation as a master of cruelty than of mercy…. Someone who’s going to be prince shouldn’t care whether the people fear him.” Both Machiavelli and mamma are constant refrains throughout the novel.

As the paranza get closer to their ultimate goals, the acts of vengeance and blood escalate as the blood brothers gain power by murdering rival gang members, use immigrants for target practice, and go from petty crimes like “slinging hash” at school to hijacking a tanker truck. They ignore the consequences of their violent lives, and ultimately the effect it has on their loved ones and families.

The Piranhas is a fully engaging, sometimes gut-wrenching gaze into the savage underbelly of Naples.

Robert Allen Papinchak
Teri Duerr
6227
Saviano
September 2018
the-piranhas-the-boy-bosses-of-naples
27
Farrar, Straus & Giroux

peter-swanson
Peter Swanson on Reading for the Season
Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Naomi Hirahara’s powerful new book, Clark and Division, follows the Ito family in 1944.

naomi-hirahara-on-clark-and-division
Naomi Hirahara on "Clark and Division"
jane-stanton-hitchcock-on-giving-voice-to-great-reads
Jane Stanton Hitchcock on Giving Voice to Great Reads
Thursday, 18 October 2018

"For me, the books I read were the call—the call to adventure, to thinking, to acknowledging other points of view. But to complete the ritual, I needed to respond."

kareem-abdul-jabbar-on-reading-a-call-and-response
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Reading: A Call and Response
Saturday, 16 June 2018

Cynthia RiggsI am surrounded by books. Every room, every space in my large, sprawling 1750s house is full of books...

cynthia-riggs-on-living-in-a-house-of-books
Cynthia Riggs on Living in a House of Books
Monday, 30 April 2018

Our history and experiences can define us, inspire our actions, and as writers impact our words and stories. Mine most definitely has: my father was a small-time gangster. Really.

my-book-the-gangster-s-daughter
My Book: The Gangster’s Daughter
Thursday, 12 April 2018

"My ah-ha moment came when I read The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.... That was it for me – I was off to the races."

jacqueline-winspear-on-the-great-gatsby-2
Jacqueline Winspear on The Great Gatsby
Sunday, 01 April 2018

Nietzsche once wrote, “There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”

test-article-as-tery-from-kate-laptop
My Book: Head Wounds
Thursday, 15 February 2018

"Mystery books were daring and exciting, firing up my imagination and making me yearn to become a girl detective or even a secret agent. They also empowered me to make up impromptu ghost stories around the campfire for my Girl Scout troop and sneak into the cemetery at night on a dare."

laura-childs-on-growing-up-reading
Laura Childs on Growing Up Reading
Thursday, 27 July 2017

vietselaineCR CristianaPecheanuFire and Ashes, the latest Angela Richman Death Investigator mystery, is an exploration of a fatal fire. To research this novel, Viets delved into the devastating consequences of junk science and arson investigations.

fire-and-ashes-and-arson
Fire and Ashes and Arson