This book fills a real need in my life. I lived in Italy as a young student in 1996-1997 and earnestly tried to read the newspapers (and watch TV on the rare occasions I had access) to understand current events. It was nearly impossible to make sense of it--most of the time I couldn't even grasp who they were talking about! Now it seems obvious that I was frustrated by a heavy cultural barrier on top of the language barrier.

Here is a book that translates contemporary Italian political culture for the curious but confused statunitense. It didn't exactly transport me like the Italian chapter of How soccer explains the world--the writing wasn't nearly as engaging and tight. But it describes tycoon Silvio Berlusconi's rise to political prominence in the context of major cultural shifts and with enough gory detail that I just might be able to follow an Italian media report now. At least it gives me the courage to try again.

Complaints: It was slow to start and sometimes unnecessarily repetitive--Stille repeats many of the shocking and outrageous Berlusconi, Inc. quotes in multiple places, which I found distracting, since I got it the first round. I was also vaguely alarmed to read only on page 306 of 351 (when the book is practically over!) that the author's father was the editor of the Corriere della Sera (one of the major Italian newspapers discussed throughout) from 1987 until 1992, not long before Berlusconi entered politics. In a book so focused on wild conflicts of interest, I wish the author had gone out of his way to disclose and elaborate on any potentially juicy (or plain old benign) personal connections to the story early on, in, say, the introduction.

For instant gratification, the Salon.com and New York Times reviews serve up great summaries.