Anti-Mafia Writer Says Cheese is #1 Reason to Live

| Wed, 03/02/2011 - 04:20

If you were forced to live under 24 hour protection after receiving death threats from Neapolitan Camorra godfathers, what would be your top reasons to go on living?

For anti-mafia author Roberto Saviano the answer is easy: cheese.

Saviano recently penned his top 10 reasons for enduring the pain of life and coming in at number one was mozzarella di bufala aversana.

The Campania native’s declaration of love for Italian cheese has earned him a lifetime supply. After Saviano’s list appeared in Italian newspaper la Repubblica, the head of the Mozzarella di Bufala di Campania consortium announced they would gift the author all the cheese he could ever hope to eat.

Saviano rose to fame, and police protection, after exposing the nefarious Neapolitan crime world in his international best seller Gomorrah. The writer’s brave description of the Camorra organization has caused him many hardships but he has remained bold in the face of danger. His new book, Vieni Via Con Me (Come Away with Me), is a collection of essays on organized crime.

Unflinching in his willingness to stare down the mafia, Saviano opens his new book with a list of things he loves most about life. After cheese, some of this reasons include:

-Listening to Bob Marley’s Redemption Song as you walk free
-Maradona’s goal against England in the 1986 World Cup
-Dreaming of returning home after being forced to stay away a long, long time.