Moro Affair [Paperback]

Leonardo Sciascia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 18, 2002

On March 16 1978, Also Moro, former Italian Prime Minister, was ambushed in Rome. Within three minutes the gang killed all five members of his escort and bundled Moro inot one of three getaway cars. An hour later the Red Brigades announced that Moro was in their hands; on March 18 they said he would be tried in a "people's court of justice". Seven weeks later Moro's body was discovered in the boot of a Renault parked in the crowded centre of Rome. In this book, Leonardo Sciasica, a master of detective fiction, untangles the real-life events of these crucial weeks and provides a unique insight into the dangerous world of Italian politics in the 1970s

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Italian (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Leonardo Sciascla was born in 1921 in Racalmuto, Sicily. He has been described by Gore Vidal, among many others, as one of the greatest modern writers. He died in 1989. Granta Books is republishing his work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Granta Books (June 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862075220
• ISBN-13: 978-1862075221
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,824,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Give it a Bye, August 4, 2005

By 

Buce (Palookaville) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Moro Affair (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

The NYRB deserves credit for retrieving several wonderful works by the Sicilian writer-politician Leonardo Sciascia: "Day of the Owl" surely; "Equal Danger" and "To Each His Own," probably. "Italian Hours" is a lesser work, but still good fun.

By contrast, "The Moro Affair" is (or ought to be) an embarrassment, to Sciascia and to the publisher as well. At the most forgiving, we can call it a nonce work, interesting as an exemplar of the kind of bitchiness and personalism that passes for journalism in Italy. But for the ordinary reader today, if it is to succeed at all, it needs a comprehensive introduction. But Peter Robb (who has written well about Sicily elsewhere) apparently wasn't willing to put in the time or the effort.

Some will say that the likely reader already knows about the Moro episode. Probably in outline, yes, but if he knows it in the kind of detail necessary to appreciate this work, he has probably read Sciascia's account long ago--and, chances are, in Italian.

On the other hand, if you really do want a decent overview of the Moro affair, there is a good one available, ironically, through the New York Review of Books. It's a review, by Adrian Lyttelton available (albeit as paid content) in the archives at the NYRB website. If you really need to master Sciascia on Morrow, Lyttelton is probably a ticket. But unless you are a fairly serious specialist, you can probably give it a bye.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second story in the book, February 24, 2008

By 

rs "RaviSankrit" (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Moro Affair (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

This book includes a shorter piece, "The Mystery of Majorana", which is a gem. It gives an explanation for the disappearance of the enigmatic and brilliant physicist Ettore Majorana. The story may or may not be the best researched explanation for what happened to Majorana, but the perspective brought to the life of a genius scientist by the author is compelling.

I have not read, "The Moro Affair" yet, but I assume it will rate at least zero stars, which makes this a five star book.