ROME–While Dan Brown’s latest thriller tops bestseller lists since its first day, American professors Deborah and Mark Parker meet his readers halfway with a guide to the masterpiece which inspired it.

 Repeating the success of Brown’s previous sensational novels, the most recently published “Inferno”, much to literary critics’ dismay, sold over half a million copies just in the fortnight following its release in May 2013. Whilst many reviews have slated the book as yet another cheap page-turner, its instant popularity has undoubtedly sparked a renewed interest for Dante and his epic poem, which, despite its prominent position in the world's literary canon, has not been well known outside the academic world.

 Such turn of events was largely expected by American literature scholars Deborah and Mark Parker, who, still before the release of the much awaited novel, took upon themselves to address the wave of curiosity about Dante’s Comedy likely to be provoked by Dan Brown’s upcoming thriller in a book of their own. Partners in both their professional and private lives, Mrs and Mr Parker joined forces in an ambitious attempt to anticipate the approach to Dante’s opus assumed by the bestselling author and produce a guide which would shed light on its aspects tackled in the thriller, but also provide an introduction to one of the most important works of world literature.

 In their Inferno Revealed, Deborah and Mark Parker explore some of the most intriguing features of Divine Comedy’s first cantico, highlighting those which make it such a timeless classic. From Dante’s decision to make himself the protagonist, something no other epic poet has done, to his interest in the local and contemporary, the authors look into the 14^th-century masterpiece and some of its innumerable adaptations to identify its most striking characteristics, which, no doubt, largely contributed to the success and wide appeal of Dan Brown’s novel.

 For Deborah Parker, professor of Italian at the Universityof Virginiaand a Dante expert, and Mark Parker, professor of English at JamesMadisonUniversity, writing a ‘commercial’ book was a completely new experience. However, the idea of making Dante’s work accessible to a broader audience immediately appealed to both, as Mr and Mrs Parker confessed during the presentation of Inferno Revealed hosted by the AmericanUniversityof Romeon Tuesday. Working on a very tight schedule, with no access to Dan Brown’s manuscript, the authors had to make guesses about the upcoming thriller – and though their predictions were largely confirmed when Inferno was finally released, some decisions and choices made by the author came as a surprise.

 “It may not be great literature”, admitted Mark Parker, addressing the widespread criticism of the bestseller’s literary value, “however it is a clever transformation of Dante, which affirms Divine Comedy as an important work.” And although some inconsistencies with the original did not escape the attention of Deborah Parker, Inferno Revealed authors agree that Dan Brown again proved himself to be a “brilliant arranger”, and his skilful selection of historic facts and literary references, paired up with his considerable talent for gripping storytelling, make his work worth consideration on its own terms.