Lots of press buzz for Italian e-book “Malcontenta” — for the format and for its readers. The site, which conceals the author’s identity, features testimonials from starlets previously thought to read only above the dotted line. “Poetic, real, romantic: it seems written with a woman’s sensitivity,” opines television presenter Tamara Don?.
Up to now, e-books have been used largely for promotion in Italy, where even Stephen King will release “Plant” in a hard-copy version. In June, the publisher gave away 100 downloadable copies of “China Killer,” a thriller on the Chinese Mafia set in Milan, before releasing the regular version.
Remains unclear whether "Malcontenta" is a promotional gimmick — the author is either famous or well connected – or an attempt to create Italian digital literature.
Either way– the clean, thoughtful prose makes for a good read.

Related resources:
www.malcontenta.it
Publishing giant Mondadori’s “work-in-progress” ebook for teens

www.abcity.it
Alessandro Baricco’s “City” site: 18-page prologue in English, Italian, Norwegian, Dutch, French and German. Worth a listen: the author’s “music to write by” section.

www.fantascienza.com/chinakiller/capitolo.html
A chapter of “China Killer”

Not the soundtrack to the Sopranos–but a CD claiming to have reproduced “outlawed” music from Mafia enclaves in Southern Italy…

“I am one of your own for blood and for honor
To hunt down the unworthy and the traitors
We know no mercy and we never forgive
That is the way of our society
The ‘Ndrangheta, Camorra and the Mafia form this organized society”

So goes a song from the recently-released “Il Canto della Malavita,” a CD collection of 13 tunes and 4 spoken-worders on the Calabrian Mafia. A foray into the world of traditional Italian folk music mixed with the irresistible pull of ‘Ndrangheta life. Themes? The Law of Silence (“Omert?”) Prison Blues (“Ergastulanu”), and, of course, a little Tarantella for good measure (“Tarantella Guapa”).

The CD, produced in Germany by a rock journalist, has caused the usual bru-ha-ha in German and Italian media.The debate: are these really the “forbidden songs of the Italian underworld” (as the cover claims) or an anachronistic look at a “the bad fellas?”

Few seem immune to a romantic idea of the Mafia–even Goffredo Plastino, noted Calabrian ethnographer, invites listeners to frequent country fairs in the region where, “with a little bit of luck you just might come across the music of the ‘Ndrangheta – the Calabrian Mafia.”

The casual listener, whose Italian is not at native level probably wouldn’t notice. The songs are in serious local dialect which are, however, translated into English and German. Worth a look & listen to decide whether it holds some socio-historic value or merely capitalizes on “Godfather” stereotypes. ?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.