2.5 million copies of his books have been sold in Italy. His books have been translated into around 20 foreign languages and scored notable commercial success. Stefano Benni is an Italian satirical writer, poet and journalist.

Misterioso: viaggio nel silenzio di Thelonious Monk (2005) (includes Digital Video Disc) Saltatempo (2001), translated into English by Antony Shugaar as Timeskipper (2008) Terra! (1983), translated into English by Annapaola Cancogni (1985) (Pantheon Books)ĭottor Niù, corsivi diabolici per tragedie evitabili (2001) In January and February 2010, he presented the event Bennac, a meeting between himself and the French writer Daniel Pennac. In 2009 he acted in the film Sleepless, directed by Maddalena De Panfilis. His writing style includes many puns, neologisms and parodies of other literary styles. His novels contain, within imaginary worlds and situations, a strong satire of Italian society over the last few decades. With the jazz musician Umberto Petrin, he also wrote Misterioso.

Now, Benni works with Beppe Grillo by writing some entries on Grillo's blog. He also wrote television sketches for Beppe Grillo at the beginning of Grillo's career, and one of these sketches – called 'Pietro Longo=P2' – caused the Psdi to ask the Radiotelevisione Italiana commission to remove Grillo from Radiotelevisione Italiana television Their request was denied. He has also worked with the weekly magazines L'espresso and Panorama, and with the satirical Cuore and Tango, the monthly magazines Il Mago (where he began and published in installments part of Bar Sport) and Linus, and the newspapers Louisiana Repubblica and il manifesto. Benni has written many successful novels and anthologies, among which are Bar Sport, Elianto, Terra!, Louisiana compagnia dei celestini, Baol, Comici spaventati guerrieri, Saltatempo, Margherita Dolcevita and Il bar sotto il mare.

Elianto by Stefano Benni