Title and subtitle of the NYT piece: "The Novelist Who Tried to Make It Look Cool to Be Fascist
In a newly translated biography, Maurizio Serra pierces the self-mythologizing of the acclaimed writer Curzio Malaparte, who was a seductive mouthpiece for a violent ideology."
I think sometimes NYT loses all self-awareness and implies that Communism is *not* a violent ideology. Intellectual mouthpieces for violent ideologies were as common as dirt in the 20th Century.
I don't have much of a stake in NYT headlines, but I think it's worth noting that the biography *does* cover Malaparte's late-in-life embrace of Maoism, comparing it with his earlier attraction to fascism....
Thank you. Also relevant:
https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-original-fascist/
https://firstthings.com/the-f-word/
https://firstthings.com/antifascists-after-fascism/
Curious to read those! For my part, I also enjoyed reading John Ganz's review of this book... https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/books/review/malaparte-maurizio-serra.html
Title and subtitle of the NYT piece: "The Novelist Who Tried to Make It Look Cool to Be Fascist
In a newly translated biography, Maurizio Serra pierces the self-mythologizing of the acclaimed writer Curzio Malaparte, who was a seductive mouthpiece for a violent ideology."
I think sometimes NYT loses all self-awareness and implies that Communism is *not* a violent ideology. Intellectual mouthpieces for violent ideologies were as common as dirt in the 20th Century.
I don't have much of a stake in NYT headlines, but I think it's worth noting that the biography *does* cover Malaparte's late-in-life embrace of Maoism, comparing it with his earlier attraction to fascism....