Small presses have had a rough year, but as the literary world continues to conglomerate, we at Literary Hub think they’re more important than ever. Which is why, every (work) day in March—which just so happens to be National Small Press Month—a Lit Hub staff member will be recommending a small press book that they love.
The only rule of this game is that there are no rules, except that the books we recommend must have been published, at some time, and in some place, by a small press. What does it mean to be a small press? Unfortunately there is no exact definition or cutoff. All of the presses mentioned here are considered to be small presses by the recommending editors, and for our purposes, that’s going to be good enough. All of the books mentioned here are considered to be great by the recommending editors, too. If one intrigues you, consider picking it up at your local bookstore, or ordering through Bookshop.org, or even directly from the publisher.
Today, we’re recommending:
Naples 1343: The Unexpected Origins of the Mafia by Amedeo Feniello, tr. Antony Shugaar
published by Other Press (2024)
Apparently, we can blame the rise of the Mafia on the diffused empire structures of the high Middle Ages, as weak rulers and a long period of social crisis allowed the most powerful families of Napoli to begin their long journey into organized crime. The central incident that inspired the book involves a group of powerful nobles and citizens of Naples who, during a harsh year of famine, hijacked a grain ship bound for elsewhere in the peninsula, and faced both ineffectual resistance and prompt censorship for their act of rebellion.
Amadeo Feniello is an erudite historian who doesn’t let his deep knowledge of his subject matter get in the way of a good anecdote. My favorite detail in this book? People dumped so many murder victims in Medieval Italy that the city fathers had to put covers on the wells.
While plenty of true crime gets pumped out by the big presses, it’s hard to imagine most of the big boys bringing out something as bizarre and in-depth as Naples 1343. There are, to be fair, hardly any translated works of nonfiction out there from any press—but if you want to read a long history book by a quirky academic that clearly took a great deal of effort to translate well, turn to a small press. Especially Other Press!
–Molly Odintz, CrimeReads Managing Editor
