Book review: Numero Zero

NUMERO ZERO from Umberto Eco is a novel of two stories: the shooting of Mussolini and his mistress in 1945, and that of Colonna, a writer in 1992 Milan who accepts the task of ghost-writing a journalist’s memoir.

The journalist in question — Braggadocio — is setting up a newspaper titled Domani (Tomorrow), financed by a magnate and not intended for actual publication.

Instead, the financier’s intention is to ruffle the feathers of the rich and powerful, in the hope they will bribe him to shut it down.