The Boss's Diaries • Meeting with Lirio Abbate

Tuesday, March 25 at 6 p.m. at the Monviso Cinema (via XX Settembre, 14) • Free, online reservations

An event in collaboration with Libera , tied to the "Day of Remembrance and Commitment in memory of the victims of the Mafia." Lirio Abbate presents The Boss's Diaries (Rizzoli).

"During my life, I have learned to no longer believe in God and my neighbor, to no longer hope, so as not to be disappointed. God can come looking for me if He wants; if He doesn't, perhaps He will end up alone one day." There is nothing like it in the history of organized crime and its undisputed leaders. A boss and his private diaries, what Matteo Messina Denaro called "the little books." Inside, written in precise, orderly, almost obsessive block letters, are thoughts and reflections, outbursts, notes, memories. And above all, as per the dedication, a sort of long and tumultuous one-way correspondence with his daughter Lorenza, whom he has never met. It is on this unique material, found in a search after the godfather's arrest, that Lirio Abbate, a reporter and expert on the mafia, delves into his gaze. He has dedicated dozens of articles, investigations, and books to the boss of Castelvetrano. To try to make sense and structure a flow of words from which emerges a previously untold and private portrait—though artfully manipulated by its author—of one of the darkest figures in criminal history, not just in Italy. Two years after the Mafia fugitive's arrest, we delve into his long-distance relationship with his daughter, his relationships with his family of origin and his father, his lovers, sex, and friends; with justice, honor, and religion. Into the mysteries of the most intimate and secret side of a man who describes himself as fundamentally alone and at war. A journey through the years of the fugitive from justice of the mass murderer, wanted for thirty years worldwide, an exceptional document analyzed with the guidance and expertise of the great investigative journalist. Matteo Messina Denaro, the last free Corleone godfather who has never spoken, speaks for the first time: "People don't stay the same throughout their lives. I've changed. Which doesn't mean I regret anything or deny my past. That will never happen."

Lirio Abbate, a Sicilian, mainly deals with current affairs and is the author of exclusive investigations into corruption and the mafia. He also writes for cinema and television. Reporters Without Borders included him among the world's "100 information heroes". With Peter Gomez he wrote I complici (2007), with Marco Lillo I re di Roma (2015), with Marco Tullio Giordana Il rosso & il nero (2019). For Rizzoli he published Fimmine ribelli (2013, which was adapted into the film Una femmina, presented at the Berlin Film Festival in 2022) and the bestsellers La lista. Il ricatto alla Repubblica di Massimo Carminati (2017), U siccu. Matteo Messina Denaro: l'ultimo capo dei capi (2020), Faccia da mostro (2021), Stragisti (2023), Demoni (2024). Editor-in-chief of «la Repubblica», he was director of the weekly «L'Espresso».

Interviews with the author are Beppe Cocco, regional co-representative of Libera, and Andrea Zummo, representative of Libera in Turin.

How to participate: The meeting is free. You can reserve your place by clicking here starting ten days before the appointment.