It is all k-pop’s fault

The picture (on a grey background) shows the cover of the book "Tutta colpa del K-pop. Diario pannocchioso di un italiano in Corea" by Seoul Mafia. The autor is in the center of the picture, wearing an orange shirt. The South Korean capital, Seoul is on the background while the title and a manga-version of the author are over the picture

For love of K-Pop

A very colorful book of wordsand pictures, almost a comic book, a story of rites of passage in a jokingly self-ironic form.

These are common traits to many diaries or teenage movies. However, here these traits are in a new guise, like Instagram on paper, allowing readers to discover step by step as Marco Ferrara from Monza arrived in the Far East and became the Italian Korean divo known as Seoul Mafia.

Plump and not really happy, after some singing failure at home, he left for South Korea, which he found fascinating on Youtube. He hoped to easily overcome the training phase of the moves of the beloved K-Pop dance that gained great international success on the web. He will find that the training under a master’s contract is very hard, with hours and hours of work.

From Italy to Korea

Through a youthful language, he came up with “words to say it” and here there are happiationdopeness (being a cool guy), a hell stock of cobs that makes the idea of the gender issues with which the young Marco, gay at risk of bullying, had to measure while chasing celebrity as a dancer, singer, and actor. He overcame all personal and social obstacles, with an unsuspected stubbornness and some maternal pecuniary help.

After an adventurous audition in England, he moved to the country of his dreams, without knowing what to expect, namely uncomfortable cohabitation and fortuitous training.

The pages of his diary are full of figurines and drawings in order to amicably visualize the path that led him to make the first record with a Korean band, holding the impact of a truly different world.

In order to remain in the country of the stars he took as models, he even enrolled in the university, becoming first of his class in the study of a previously mysterious language.

The success

In Korea he participated in television shows as an exotic face, and therefore beautiful in his strangeness. Marco is now a global idol. How do you get to this? He says that: “there are five rules: rejuvenate, study, throw yourself, be mentally prepared, learn language and culture”.

The text is dotted with captivating titles, so that this book can also be an object of desire for the boys and girls who will be reading it. The glossaries in the various chapters hold up well the free-words game of Seoul Mafia, a clever and certainly right name. The ending is a classic: “I love you” dedicated to friends and fans.

ELISA GUZZO VACCARINO 87 Articoli
Laureata in filosofia, ha insegnato storia ed estetica della danza in università italiane e straniere e alla scuola di ballo della Scala di Milano. Si occupa di danza per Quotidiano Nazionale, periodici e riviste specializzate, scrivendo anche libri. Collabora con la Biennale Danza di Venezia e il Premio Carla Fendi di Spoleto. È membro del Consiglio Superiore dello Spettacolo presso il Ministero dei Beni Culturali.