The Serpent Coiled in Naples

‘To write about Naples, you really need to be a poet – or, even better, an antiquarian bookseller. Mr Kociejowski is both and has produced a delightful work that is as eclectic, labyrinthine, ironic and shocking as the city itself.’

-- John Hooper, The Economist

‘Kociejowski’s book (which takes its title from the Sicilian proverb ‘Never fear Rome ― the serpent lies coiled in Naples) is one of the best I have read on the ramshackle Mediterranean outpost (and I have read a few). In pages of scholarly but engagingly droll prose, Kociejowski conjures a death-haunted city, where the meaning of life is everywhere connected to what it is to die.’

-- Ian Thompson, The Spectator

‘[A] sprawling, labyrinthine, exuberantly discursive book … to be dipped into at leisure (whether in an armchair at home or on a terrace overlooking the Bay of Naples). And it is a holiday in itself, with all the ingredients of a first-rate one: natural wonders, the evocative remnants of a many-layered ancient culture, unfamiliar food, haunting music and an edge of scary strangeness, all of it explored in excellent company.’

-- Lucy Hughes-Hallett, The Times Literary Supplement

‘Marius Kociejowski is one of life’s great questioners [and] The Serpent Coiled in Naples takes on some of the largest questions that come with searching for this stupendous city’s soul…The experience is more of an intellectual joyride than a standard history.’

-- Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker

Certain books may be likened to monuments. Just such a one is The Serpent Coiled in Naples by Marius Kociejowski. The Serpent Coiled in Naples makes for excellent armchair travelling. And it may well tempt one to visit this effervescent if dangerous hive of the South of Italy.’

-- The Fortnightly Review

‘Kociejowski offers up 15 discrete, thoughtful, copiously researched essays on the most consequential aspects of Neapolitan life, from its vibrant musical heritage and literary traditions to its deep culinary history, intimacy with crime, and complicated ties to the Catholic Church.’

-- Booklist

‘The Serpent Coiled in Naples is the perfect read for those who wonder why Naples is so full of ambiguity and contradiction.’

-- Secret Tips

‘Exceptionally well-written, organised and presented’

-- Midwest Book Re