I really enjoyed the book, as I am generally a huge fan of Mafia stories, but the end was a bit... well, I would call it queasy.
Okay bear with me for a minute because this gets a little complicated. Malavita was originally released in English as Badfellas, (a homage to the main characters love of the movie Goodfellas,) and is now being re-released under its original French name due to a movie version coming out, which is cal...
While reading this, I couldn't help but visualise the author writing this and dreaming of the day it was made into a paint-by-numbers Hollywood comedy - because that is how Badfellas reads, like a book tie-in for a film that's already been released.That's not to say Badfella's is a bad book by any s...
There's this well-known fact that the recent past is the strangest period in history. I mean, not that long ago it was the present, and then what happened? So, earlier today, I was reading this rather mediocre Benacquista collection on the train and ran into the following story, published as recentl...
It occurred to me that Tonino Benacquista is a bit like a French version of Iain Banks. Great storyteller, brilliant at cooking up tastefully intriguing mixtures of sex and violence with a psychological twist. Often the story is told in an odd order, or with many flashbacks. And they both like to cr...
Everyone in the francophone world seems to read Tonino Benacquista, but he still hasn't become at all well-known among English speakers. He's a great entertainer, and Saga is particularly likely to appeal to members of this site. So here's how it starts. Four down-on-their-luck writers turn up for a...
The sequel to [b:Malavita|867149|Malavita|Tonino Benacquista|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MH2ZSBMGL._SL75_.jpg|852547], but unfortunately it isn't quite as good. Though there are still some very amusing episodes. The subplot I liked best stars Maggie, who's tired of being an ex-Mob wife. ...
Update: I just discovered that this is also available in English translation, under the title Badfellas. ______________________________________An entertaining story about a former Mob family that relocates to a small town in France. (The Witness Protection Program is having problems keeping them saf...
A great story starting from a thought that everyone has from time to time: what would happen if I did what I really want to do? The two main characters in the book decide they will find out, with unexpected and dramatic consequences. The style is very pleasant, and the author supplies you with philo...
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