A nice series of anecdotes that give a view into the italian underworld during the early-mid 2000s. Fun read and dispels alot of misconceptions about organised crime. However Saviano has been accused of plagiarism enough times where you should approach his work with some doubt, he also claims this book is semi-autobiographical which i just flat out don't believe. But between these stories there are valuable takeaways.

The economic power of the Camorra System lies exactly in its continual turnover of leaders and criminal choices. One man’s dictatorship is always brief; if the power of a boss were long-lasting, he would raise prices, create a monopoly, making rigid markets, and keep investing in the same sectors rather than exploring new ones.

Instead of adding value in the criminal economy, he would become an

obstacle to business. And so, as soon as a boss takes over, others ready

to take his place start to emerge, figures eager to expand, to stand on

the shoulders of the giants they helped create. Something that the

journalist Riccardo Orioles, one of the most astute observers of power

dynamics, always remembered: “Criminality is not power pure and

simple, but one kind of power.” There will never be a boss who wants

a seat in government. If the Camorra had all the power, its business,

which is essential to the workings of the legal and illegal scale, would

not exist. In this sense every arrest and maxi-trial seems more like a