A young Italian is accused of pulling off the book worlds most perplexing crime.
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ReadThe Spine Collector,originally published on August 17, 2021.
Filippo Bernardini was just a high-school student when he published his first novel.
Hes good at school and loves two things more than anything else: the internet and books.
Life sucks, Diego writes.
Everyone says Im gay and the school bullies want to beat me.
I like to be at the center of attention by showing people something that they dont have.
I should find some time to commit a robbery, he says.
I admit to being very good at that.
The stolen books werent being pirated online.
No one was demanding a ransom.
Book auctions werent being disrupted.
As far as anyone can tell, the caper itself might have been the point.
When Lila suggested Cobble Hill, they changed their mind:
How about Fuck You Hill?
Or can I meet you at Silly Cunt Square?
TAKE MY ADVICE: DROP THIS STUPID ARTICLE AND STOP WITH IT IMMEDIATELY!!!
Dont you and your friend Reeves have better stories to report?
I cant believe youre being paid for this rubbish!
Should anyone have suspected Bernardini?
(Multiple sources pointed us to a different young Italian, but the evidence fell apart under scrutiny.
In more ways than one, Bernardini seems to have gone unnoticed and underestimated.
who tried to rejuvenate her career by forging letters from successful authors.
He was almost cosplaying as a person in publishing, says Kelly Farber, a literary scout.
The Italian press has dubbed him the Lupin of literature.
On Tuesday, Bernardini appeared in federal court in Manhattan.
He wore a suit and glasses and peered around the room, but mostly he sat in silence.
He faces up to 20 years in prison and has pleaded not guilty.
During the proceedings, Judge Colleen McMahon expressed her own confusion about the case.
What exactly did he do?
she asked the prosecutor.
McMahon understood what thieves sometimes did with pirated movies.
But what did Bernardini want with the books?
So he wanted to read books before they were published?
Bernardini began charting a career in publishing when he was young.
He was loud, boisterous.
Nothing would really daunt him, a classmate who worked on several projects with Bernardini told me via email.
My lasting impression of him was how confident but borderline rude he was.
Wed eventually all just take anything he said with a pinch of salt, the classmate said.
He seemed like someone who would always exaggerate to ensure they had the best story in the room.
Bernardini seemed to spend most of his time preparing to hustle up the publishing ladder.
I always felt like he was sizing me up to gauge me as future competition, the classmate said.
On paper, Bernardini was an excellent candidate.
But it was also difficult to stand out.
In 2016, Bernardini landed an internship at Andrew Nurnberg Associates, a literary agency in London.
One of Bernardinis colleagues recalled him as friendly but difficult to get close to.
He seemed too keen, too ambitious, the colleague said.
He seemed to see himself as above the more pedestrian duties required of an intern.
Once, when Bernardinis computer was being fixed, he sat idly in his chair, spinning around.
An agent suggested that he might tidy up some bookshelves.
I remember him saying that something was too boring, the agent said.
I think he expected lots of doors in the industry to open for him.
When Bernardini applied for a full-time job at Nurnberg, he didnt get it.
(The agency declined to comment.
Bernardini, through his attorney, broadly disputed the description of his time at Nurnberg.)
In the real world, Bernardini struggled to find a job.
I do believe that I owe you an apology, he wrote.
Later on, I realized how tacky and unprofessional that attitude was and I am really sorry for this.
Bernardini was having more success on another path.
Beginning in 2016, he had been pitching himself to Italian publishers as a translator.
Strangest of all was the catalog of languages he claimed to speak.
Another Italian publisher had him translateUnfree Speech, a memoir by Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong.
(Bernardinis Twitter handle was @tradurrelacina: Translating China in Italian.)
Were Bernardinis alleged crimes somehow aiding his translation career?
The alleged scam also began to overlap with Bernardinis broader professional aspirations.
Minutes later, the thief sent a similar reply to the same message.
NO, I didnt!!!
the thief wrote to Trenchard.
Somehow, the thief seemed to have access to Trenchards inbox.
As it happened, a few years earlier, Trenchard had hired Bernardini as an intern.
By last year, Bernardinis career seemed to finally be getting somewhere.
His translation ofKim Ji-young, Born in 1982appeared onEsquire Italias list of the 10 books to read last summer.
Its 400 pages long and I would need a report by end of January, the thief wrote withfauxmagnanimity.
We usually pay 100 GBP but in this case we can do 150 GBP.
Bernardinis arrest seems to have caught even those close to him off guard.
citizen, could be charged with a crime in the U.S.
The indictment against Bernardini charges him with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
But the FBIs indictment remains silent on the big remaining question: Why?
Some in publishing believe that Bernardini must have had some unnamed accomplice.
InBulli, the narrator seems to recognize that most bullies arent abusive for practical reasons.
A person cannot live without others, just as the tormentor cannot live without his victim.
Bernardini has so far declined to comment.
The idea that anyone could love books as much as the thief even appeared to engender a certain empathy.
After all, reading so many ms pdfs must constitute its own special kind of punishment.
