Shout It Out!

From the author of the groundbreaking exposé Gomorrah comes a book that encourages and challenges the people to stand up for themselves and to not be fooled by the coercive nature of political power. Featuring short biographical sketches of a surprising mix of admired and deplored figures and works from history, this is a book that demands of readers to open one’s eyes and be outraged. The iconic Italian author Roberto Saviano’s latest work of nonfiction is an urgent cry for people to stand up for themselves and the things they believe in, featuring those who have most inspired him—Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, Martin Luther King Jr., the Calipygian Venus, immortalized in marble—alongside those whose actions were most deplorable—Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Rwandan radio host Kantano Habimana, who encouraged the 1993-’94 genocide there. Saviano quotes the Italian author and Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi: “I write what I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone.” Saviano, like Levi, embraces his readers within a similar protective halo of intimacy, taking us in his arms to warn us. Other lives and works that Saviano evokes in Shout It Out! are Hypatia, the murdered Alexandrian philosopher, mathematician and astronomer; political theorist Carl Schmitt; trailblazing Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya; Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi; NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden; 16th century astrology and alchemist Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake by the Inquisition in 1600; Russian poet Anna Akhmatova who chose silence rather than collaboration; Émile Zola; the Brothers Grimm; Martin Luther King; murdered anti-corruption activist Daphne Caruana Galizia; the ancient roman statue of the Callipygian Venus; Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan); American actress Jean Seberg; Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini; Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels; Rwandan radio host Kantano Habimana; Settimia Spizzichino, one of 50 from the Rome ghetto sent to Auschwitz, and the only survivor; Chinese poet and factory worker Lizhi Xu; Italian-American saint Sister Francesca Saverio Cabrini; Italian architect and London fire victim Gloria Trevisan; George Floyd. Shout It Out dives into world history—and Roberto Saviano’s mind—in a way that constantly surprises.