Roberto Saviano with Jon Lee Anderson: The Piranhas

When Roberto Saviano’s exposé of the Camorra Mafia of Naples, Gomorrah, was first published in 2006 it sold upward of 600,000 copies and ignited a national conversation about crime and corruption. But for its young, debut author, the book’s success also resulted in death threats and a constant police escort. Now, after twelve years spent living in hiding, Saviano returns to his home city in The Piranhas, a novel of gang warfare and a young man’s dark desire to rise to the top of Naples’s underworld. In his only New York appearance, Saviano visits LIVE to celebrate the US launch of the book Elena Ferrante praises for its “openhearted rashness” in telling “the story of the fierce and grieving heart of Naples.” This conversation will be translated by an interpreter.

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LIVE from the NYPL offers conversations with notable writers, artists, and leaders, hosted by Paul Holdengräber at The New York Public Library. Learn more about LIVE and our other upcoming events.

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ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing accessibility@nypl.org.