Life and adventures of Salvatore Messana. With a narrative of the manner in which he was a thief, sinner, adulterer, sailor, gangster,[1] militant of the extreme left, swindler and, finally, a “specialist in getting sacked” who amassed a large fortune.

Gianni Giovannelli was born in Ferrara in 1949. An attorney, he lives and works in Milan. He has published Svaraj Gandharva (Bianca e Volta, Milan, 1982; second edition: Tranchida, Milan, 1986); Confessioni di un uomo malvagio (Tranchida, 1988); and, under the pseudonym Palmiro, Lettera al Giudice Forno (Machina Libri, Milan, 1981) and Poesie dalla latitanza (C.T.A., Milan, 1982).

[1] English in the French translation. The original Italian edition uses the word rapinatore (“robber”).