Being Berlusconi: The Rise and Fall from Cosa Nostra to Bunga Bunga - Hardcover

"British journalist Day delivers a lively, well-informed, and witty biography of media mogul and three-time Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi." --Publisher's Weekly "This is the first book that puts flesh on the caricature that is Silvio Berlusconi, explaining the myths behind the most important man in modern Italian politics and culture. An entertaining, eyeopening read for anyone who thinks they really understand Silvio Berlusconi -- the tycoon who has shaped modern day Italy in unimaginable ways. Michael Day's smart, book answers the questions few thought to ask. Funny and profound in equal measure, the author fills in the blanks, connects the dots and explains the egomaniac behind that familiar grin. Readers will also come away with answers to the key questions - not least of which is "how did Berlusconi get away with it for so long?" --Barbie Latza Nadeau, The Beast "In an engaging narrative filled with exquisite detail, Being Berlusconi brings the Silvio Berlusconi story to life by deftly peeling back the multiple layers of the defining personality of Italy's recent past. In a refreshingly opinionated jaunt though the past two decades of Italian political and economic life, Michael Day tackles three key questions at the heart of the Berlusconi phenomenon. Both the casual reader and Italian expert are certain to walk away with an informed idea of Berlusconi's legacy and an understanding of why the media mogul still matters even as his political career nears the end of an excruciating and inexorable decline." --Eric Sylvers, Milan Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal "It's high time that Michael Day wrote a book on the man whose career he has followed so closely over the years. A brilliant dissection of one of Europe's most controversial leaders and a must-read for anybody who wants to know more about the scoundrel that is Silvio Berlusconi." --Alistair Dawber, The Independent "I love this book. It is, to use one of the author's phrases, like eating a whole box of chocolates at once. Anyone with a passing interest in contemporary culture or politics will devour it. And those that do will delight in Day's stinging prose, which sketches not only the double-dealing and excesses of Berlusconi the monster but also the failings and weaknesses of Berlusconi the human being." --Hannah Roberts, Rome Correspondent, Daily Mail Online

People from all walks of life are appalled and fascinated in equal measure by the stratospheric political career of the tycoon and three-time Italian Prime Minister. Michael Day provides an in depth look at the life and crimes of the shameless media mogul until his nine lives ran out and he faced definitive conviction which signaled his irreversible decline. He tells the story of a bright and ambitious man from a lower-middle class family who shook off his humble origins and rose to become rich and powerful beyond most people's dreams - a multi-billionaire whose Mediaset company remains one of Europe's largest television and cinema conglomerates. Along the way, amid the election victories, business triumphs, and womanizing, he became bogged down by his hubris, egotism, sexual obsessions, as well as his flagrant disregard for the law. And yet how and why did Italy and Italians put up with him for so long? With the 78-year-old's legal woes ongoing, including further trials for bribery, after a recent nine-month community service stint, Being Berlusconi is well-timed to mark the final chapters of a notorious-and astonishing-life and career.