We'll Sleep When We're Old

October 1, 2017
A bullying, megalomaniac Italian film and TV mogul dreams up a multilayered scam to salvage a bad film, but this latest dirty trick could jeopardize his entire murky empire.Drunk and doped up on cocaine, Oscar Martello is not in the mood to be nagged by his stunning Argentinian wife, Helga: "I have other things on my mind, you bitch. There's an actress who hates me and has gone missing, and I have no idea what the fuck she's up to. There's a piece-of-shit movie that I'm trying to save. There's a goddamned cop who's buzzing around me, I don't know if you've noticed?" And there, in a nutshell, is the plot--and tone--of Italian journalist Corrias' debut novel, an exuberantly vulgar takedown of Rome's media world as personified by the supremely coarse and corrupt figure of Martello. This lavish portrait of grotesque wealth, manipulation, and moral depravity centers on Martello's flimsy PR plot to inflate attention for No, I Won't Surrender! a film starring beautiful, bipolar, pill-popping Jacaranda Rizzi, by sending the actress off to Paris with Martello's best friend, raising rumors of romance and Mafia kidnapping. But then Jacaranda really does go missing, just as a policeman turns up to investigate Martello's long history of suspicious financial dealings. Readers less attracted to this harshly comic cast of sleazy characters and their predicaments may be more entertained by Corrias' descriptions of the lifestyle of the rich and borderline famous, studded with plenty of product placement: watches by Rolex; cars by Jaguar and Bentley. The author delivers his satire on Rome's glamorous but seedy entertainment industry with cheerful tastelessness and matching excess. Does Oscar survive the scandal? Don't expect a pianissimo final act.Sensationalism and decadence are pushed to the hilt and then a bit further in this scorchingly cynical, one-note social sendup.

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October 15, 2017

Italian TV producer and newspaper correspondent Corrias's first novel casts a dazzling spotlight on the corrupt world of Rome's contemporary movie aristocracy. Oscar Martello, an ambitious producer and multimillionaire from crimes past and present, vows to ruin everyone connected to his latest anti-Mafia movie if it turns out to be the flop he fears. To prevent a financial hit, he hires muckrakers to help with the film's promotion. He plans to secret his starring actress Jacaranda Rizzi and screenwriter friend Andrea Serrano in Paris, hoping the yellow press will jump on the story as either a Mafia-vengeance kidnaping or the romantic elopement of two lovers. His hopes are realized until unforeseen complications, including the Italian financial police, threaten to destroy his world. VERDICT Italian corruption hasn't gone out of style since Mario Puzo, the most recent cinematic example being Netflix's Suburra series (adapted from the homonymous novel by Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo de Cataldo). This macho world reappears in Corrias's work, but the focus is not on the lowlife but on aristocratic excess, less murderous yet no less venal. Note that women are treated with vulgar disdain.--Ron Terpening, formerly of Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2017
The first novel from Italian journalist Corrias explores the rampant corruption and manipulation behind the scenes of Italy's glamorous film industry. Producer Oscar Martello has a big problem on his hands: his latest movie is a complete dud. Rather than accept the inevitable scathing reviews and meager box office that's sure to follow the picture's release, Oscar enlists his best friend, handsome screenwriter Andrea Serrano, in an outrageous scheme. Because the film deals with a woman taking on the Mafia, Martello decides to fake the kidnapping of the movie's lead actress, Jacaranda Rizzi. Martello pays for Andrea to take Jacaranda to Paris with the intention of revealing that Jacaranda wasn't kidnapped but instead had snuck away on a romantic trip with her new screenwriter beau. Martello's plans go awry when a nosy cop starts looking into Jacaranda's disappearance and then shifts his focus to Martello's finances, and Jacaranda reveals a tragic past encounter to Andrea. Fans of salacious reads will find this a satisfying send-up of the Italian film biz.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)