# Numero Zero - Paperback

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by **Umberto Eco** (Author), **Richard Dixon** (Translator)

**"Eco combines his delight in suspense with astute political satire in this brainy, funny, neatly lacerating thriller." --_Booklist_**

**1945, Lake Como.** Mussolini and his mistress are captured and shot by local partisans. The precise circumstances of Il Duce's death remain controversial.

**1992, Milan.** Colonna, a depressed hack writer, is offered a fee he can't resist to ghostwrite a book. His subject: a fledgling newspaper, which happens to be financed by a powerful media magnate. As Colonna gets to know the team, he learns of the editor's paranoid theory that Mussolini's corpse was a body double and part of a wider Fascist plot. It's the scoop the newspaper desperately needs. The evidence? He's working on it.

It's all there: media hoaxes, Mafiosi, the CIA, the Pentagon, blackmail, love, gossip, and murder. A clash of forces that have shaped Italy since World War II--from Mussolini to Berlusconi. _Numero Zero_ is the work of a master storyteller.

**"Although _Numero Zero_ takes place in 1992, Eco may as well be describing our current journalistic landscape of hot takes and click bait." --_Los Angeles Times_**

**"Readers of Elena Ferrante or Rachel Kushner will likely catch the barbs in \[Eco's\] clever absurdities." --_Vulture_**

### Front Jacket

**From the best-selling author of _The Name of the Rose,_ an enthralling new conspiracy thriller**  
  
1945, Lake Como. Mussolini and his mistress are captured and shot by local partisans. The precise circumstances of Il Duce s death remain controversial.  
  
1992, Milan. Colonna, a depressed hack writer, is offered a fee he can t resist to ghostwrite a book. His subject: a fledgling newspaper, which happens to be financed by a powerful media magnate. As Colonna gets to know the team, he learns of the editor s paranoid theory that Mussolini s corpse was a body double and part of a wider Fascist plot. It s the scoop the newspaper desperately needs. The evidence? He s working on it.  
  
It s all there: media hoaxes, Mafiosi, the CIA, the Pentagon, blackmail, love, gossip, and murder. A clash of forces that have shaped Italy since World War II from Mussolini to Berlusconi. Farcical, serious, satiric, and tragic (_Le Point,_ France), _Numero Zero_ is the work of a master storyteller.  
"

### Back Jacket

  
**_#1 Italian bestseller_**  
  
One of the most influential thinkers of our time. _Los Angeles Times_  
  
**1945, Lake Como.** Mussolini and his mistress are captured and shot by local partisans. The precise circumstances of Il Duce s death remain controversial.  
  
**1992, Milan.** Colonna, a depressed hack writer, is offered a fee he can t resist to ghostwrite a book. His subject: a fledgling newspaper, which happens to be financed by a powerful media magnate. As Colonna gets to know the team, he learns of the editor s paranoid theory that Mussolini s corpse was a body double and part of a wider Fascist plot. It s the scoop the newspaper desperately needs. The evidence? He s working on it.  
  
It s all there: media hoaxes, Mafiosi, the CIA, the Pentagon, blackmail, love, gossip, and murder. A clash of forces that have shaped Italy since World War II from Mussolini to Berlusconi. Farcical, serious, satiric, and tragic (_Le Point,_ France), _Numero Zero_ is the work of a master storyteller.  
  
UMBERTO ECO (1932 2016) was the author of numerous essay collections and seven novels, including _The Name of the Rose,_ _The Prague Cemetery,_ and _Inventing the Enemy._ He received Italy s highest literary award, the Premio Strega, was named a Chevalier de la Legion d Honneur by the French government, and was an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  
"

### Author Biography

UMBERTO ECO has written numerous essay collections and five novels, including _The Name of the Rose_ and _Foucault's Pendulum_. He received Italy's highest literary award, the Premio Strega, was named a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by the French government, and is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

**Number of Pages:** 208

**Dimensions:** 0.8 x 7.8 x 5.3 IN

**Publication Date:** May 17, 2016

## Details

- **Price:** 21.95 GBP
- **Vendor:** BooksCloud
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books, Fiction, Literary, Political, Price Written on Book, Satire, Thrillers

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 21.95 GBP | In stock |

## Images

- Numero Zero

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