Umberto Eco's Hissably Malevolent Bad Guy

When Umberto Eco's latest novel was published in Italy last year, it received a scathing review from the Vatican-endorsed newspaper Osservatore Romano. The review of "The Prague Cemetery" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 444 pages, $27) contended that the book's readers would be "tainted," and even persuaded, by the anti-Semitic vitriol espoused by the novel's characters. Mr. Eco's publicists should not have been dismayed by a Vatican pan: Other authors who have run afoul of the church include Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling. Offending the Vatican is no impediment to book sales. "The Prague Cemetery" in its Italian and Spanish editions went on to sell millions.