The essay reconstructs Mussolini's passion for literature. In 1909 he published a serial novel entitled “The Cardinal's lover. Claudia Particle”. After the Mussolini's rise to power, Giovacchino Forzano acted as a ghostwriter for him in the writing of three dramas. Mussolini’s knowledge of more or less classic authors in literature becomes an essential part in the construction of the rhetoric of the leader both in public discourses and in his well-known slogans. At the same time, Mussolini’s attempt to become a (...) renowned author was functional to the construction of the character of the Duce. (shrink)