The Serpent Coiled in Naples

Marius Kociejowski

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English

Haus
20 September 2022

Travel & holiday; Travel writing

A travelogue revealing the hidden stories of Naples.

In recent years Naples has become, for better or worse, the new destination in Italy. While many of its more unusual features are on display for all to see, the stories behind them remain largely hidden. In Marius Kociejowski’s portrait of this baffling city, the serpent can be many things: Vesuvius, the mafia-like Camorra, the outlying Phlegrean Fields (which, geologically speaking, constitute the second most dangerous area on the planet). It is all these things that have, at one time or another, put paid to the higher aspirations of Neapolitans themselves. Naples is simultaneously the city of light, sometimes blindingly so, and the city of darkness, although often the stuff of cliché. The boundary that separates death from life is porous in the extreme: the dead inhabit the world of the living and vice versa. The Serpent Coiled in Naples is a travelogue, a meditation on mortality, and much else besides.

By: Marius Kociejowski
Imprint: Haus
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781909961814
ISBN 10: 1909961817
Pages: 464
Publication Date: 20 September 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Marius Kociejowski is a poet, essayist and travel writer. Among the books he has written are The Street Philosopher and the Holy Fool: A Syrian Journey (Eland, 2016) and a sequel, The Pigeon Wars of Damascus. He lives in London, England where, until recently, he worked as an antiquarian bookseller.

Reviews for The Serpent Coiled in Naples

'To write about Naples, you really need to be a poet-or, even better, an antiquarian bookseller. Kociejowski is both and has produced a delightful work that is as eclectic, labyrinthine, ironic and shocking as the city itself. -- Economist Kociejowski is a near invisible narrator, so completely caught up in his quest that he walks us through the mundane veil of everyday life to encounter real story-treasure. --Barnaby Rogerson At turns hilarious and profound. --Diana Darke Kociejowski's words pulse with the beating heart of this extraordinary city. --Katherine Wilson