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Talk of the Devil
Encounters with Seven Dictators
Riccardo Orizio

Reviews of Talk of the Devil

reviews_talk_of_the_devil "Thomas Aquinas wrote, in his Summa Theologica, "pride is the root of all sin," meaning this emotion causes man to turn from God and seek glory elsewhere, to venture down dark and evil paths. So, although the seven deposed dictators tracked down and interviewed by Riccardo Orizio are guilty of nearly all of the cardinal sins - most of the venal ones and some so outrageous and rare that they defy classification - it is pride that both made and unmade them. Orizio chose these seven dictators precisely because they had been divested of all raiments of power. For example, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, whose 1977 coronation included 24,000 bottles of Moët et Chandon, and a 3.5-by-5-meter, gilded throne, was confined to a small house in Bangui until his death. Nexhmije Hoxha and her husband built a pyramid monument to themselves in Tirana, but she now lives an austere existence in her prison cell. Idi Amin, the "Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea," lived until his death, in 2003, a humble, albeit comfortable, existence in Saudi Arabia. In this series of kid-gloved interviews (one wishes Orizio had been more confrontational), what is most striking about these world dictators, other than their escapes from punishment, is their stubborn pride. Sixteen years after being ousted from power, Poland's Wojciech Jaruzelski obsessively asserts that his actions - the internment of thousands of dissidents, the declaration of war against his own country - were necessary and will prove commendable. Mira Markovic, wife of Slobadan Milosevic, still sees her husband as a hero and herself as an ideal wife and citizen. Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who ate his enemies, pitches his war crimes as a fight against imperial France. As they emerge from Talk of the Devil, these men and women come off as being a lot like ordinary people. In fact, many of them today are ordinary people, scrambling to justify their actions and avoid shame. This raises an interesting and uncomfortable dilemma for the reader. It challenges us to think about how such power comes about before vilifying these dictators."—Joshua David Stein, Boldtype

"Many of these despots seemed calm and reasonable in their talks with Orizio. And that is the most chilling point that Orizio makes. He lets them talk and then recounts what went on in their countries under their orders. Chapters of this book should be mandatory reading in high school history classes. They show what evils people can unleash and that the horrors of a Hitler or Stalin are not just in the past...Reading these tales is unnerving, absurd, horrifying and frustrating. Most of the deposed, who oversaw the starvation and killings of hundreds of thousands, believe that they should be returned to office. They are convinced that history will redeem them... Is exile a fair exchange for the possibility of peace and the possible rebirth of a devastated nation? Orizio includes enough history for readers to draw their own conclusions for each dictator."—Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY

"Fascinating. Orizio's subjects are not just ordinary, run-of-the-mill ex-dictators...Most of them say to Orizio what Saddam Hussein is no doubt saying to whatever loyal henchmen may be remaining to him: Look at my country now! The henchmen are nodding solemnly in agreement. Is it because they agree or because they are afraid not to agree? Possibly they no longer know the difference."— Louis Menand, The New Yorker

"[Reads like] a collection of short stories...Wryly understated...Absorbing...Deftly counterpunching their self-serving narratives with hard-hitting facts, he exposes the former rulers for what they are -- narcissistic, sometimes pitiable, and unalterable human."— cnn.com

"Orizio gives his subjects space to speak in this well-written work, but offers timely editorial interventions when their lies get too thick. He never seems seduced."— Ron Berthel, Associated Press

"What goes through the mind of someone who has had everything, lost everything and has not time to start again?" Italian journalist Riccardo Orizio gives that query a chilling twist in his timely new book, Talk of the Devil...With courage and moxie, Orizio answers these and other equally necessary questions in this slim volume which allows us to observe and listen to despots and tyrants responsible for some of the most heinous acts of barbarism and inhumanity in the 20th century." — Lee K. Abbott, Raleigh News & Observer

“Some of the interviews are stunning . . . This tale of a journalist looking for former tyrants now living in relative obscurity is entertaining and raises provocative questions about what these men deserve for their cruel reigns.” —Publishers Weekly

“In Talk of the Devil, Italian journalist Riccardo Orizio hosts a kind of "where are they now" from hell, reporting on his encounters with seven former tyrants, men and women whose bloody, kleptocratic regimes oppressed thousands before they were chased into exile - an end better than death, but not without its restrictions. Orizio, who has reported for CNN, is a splendid tour guide. His excitement at tracking down a hot story is contagious. He asks good questions, too.” —Philip Herter, St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg, Florida

“[Orizio] also has the gift of capturing a place in a few words, like Saudi Arabia, "where the temperature is always too hot and the smiles too cold." Or the malls in Jeddah; being the only public places women can frequent unescorted, "they walk around for hours in large groups, clutching the hands of their obese children.” —Roger K. Miller, Chicago Sun Times

“Talk of the Devil is a well-paced adventure into the heart of tyranny, and there Riccardo Orizio always finds the most richly woven self deceptions. This little book is an important study of human nature.”
—Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod, Salt, and The Basque History of the World

"Gripping . . . High-grade journalism." —Bryan Appleyard, The Sunday Times

"[Orizio's] laconic, deadpan style is subversively funny, and his take on his subjects is not always politically correct." —The Times

"A fascinating insight into the minds of evil . . . A thrillingly voyeuristic insight into the aberrations of power." —Ian Thomson, Mail on Sunday

"Orizio writes in a poetic, reflective style reminiscent of the Polish reporter Ryszard Kapuscinski, which has no real Anglo-Saxon parallel. He describes the horrors of these past dictatorships with a kind of weary detachment and sad curiosity, without any sense of imperial or post-war guilt, or any ideological message." —Anthony Sampson, Evening Standard

"I suspect that Riccardo Orizio has a slight nostalgia for dictators in general, for they give even the least important of places a journalistic significance. Of every hundred people who have heard of Trujillo, how many can name the current president of the Dominican Republic? And is it not true that there is a little of the dictator lurking in very many of us, waiting for the right circumstances to emerge? One reads this book with a slightly shamefaced absorption." —Anthony Daniels, Spectator

"TALK OF THE DEVIL is first a book of working journalism; the best story here is Orizio's own. His pursuit of clues and clandestine appointments with shadowy figures is at least as interesting as what the former tyrants have to say, sometimes more so . . . Fascinating." —Jad Adams, The Observer

"Megalomania has its comic side, of course, and there are parts of the book where the theme might almost be summarized as �the hilarity of evil.� If these comic absurdities serve a purpose, it is to show the connection between the ludicrous self-absorption of the dictator in power and the blind self-pity of the ex-dictator in retirement. In both cases we have a common moral failing�losing the ability to see yourself as others see you�blown up to grotesque proportions . . . [An] elegant and entertaining book." —Noel Malcolm, The Sunday Telegraph