I am nothing is a book about Sicily, Italian politics, and the hidden world of the Mafia, which permeates the lives of everyday people.

Valerio Spada casts a light on the murky relationship between politics and crime. He draws attention to the people who work frenetically to maintain the status quo, the criminals who believe they are on a mission, and the courageous but impossible work of the special unit of the Italian police, who operate in a country where corruption, secrets, religion, pacts, politics, and the Mafia all intertwine.

Spada documents the criminals and fugitives that ruled Sicily for the past forty-six years. He shows what they sacrificed in order to rule: for example, the Mafia boss, Matteo Messina Denaro, has never seen his daughter. He reveals how they communicate with the outside world through letters called pizzini, which reach the hands of the designated recipient only after having been passed, from person to person, seven times. And he calls attention to what you carry with you when you decide to disappear.

twin palms publishers
march 2015
8 x 10 inches
142 four-color plates
120 pages