Anita Conti ; four stars not five on Amazon

Drafted 20 December, updated 22 December 2024

Very interesting book indeed…it reveals the world of how a supermarket is born and for this it deserves five stars…I give four (but I would like to give one) for the style in which it is written…rarely have I read a book more self-celebratory than this one…a son who neither wanted nor could (perhaps) “rebel” against his father but from whom he has always drawn benefits that he has never refused…I had a hard time finishing it because of this self-celebration that the author continues to make of himself….

She is probably not referring to the ‘style’ but rather to the content of my book. Moreover, I feel that I have given honour and credit to many other protagonists in the history of the family and the companies they own (Peppino Caprotti, the American managers, Bernardo Caprotti, Paolo De Gennis, Ferdinando Schiavoni, Violetta Caprotti, etc.).

His very harsh criticism, however, allows me to give an important reason: why did I write this book? I am often asked.

One of the answers is that I do not like fake news.

Let me give you an example: Esselunga is claiming that its partnership with the Banco Alimentare has been going on for 20 years. That’s not true, this partnership is lost ‘in the mists of time’. I did not decide it with the first social balance sheet. The accountant Santino [known as Aldo] Ferraro, who was in charge of purchasing and marketing before me, concretised it.

And it’s all like that… a continuous twisting of facts, reality.

This is also why I wrote Le Ossa dei Caprotti, which should be read with a little less superficiality.