by Niccolo Ammaniti, Jonathan Hunt (translator)
Ischiano Scalo. A place where even the main road out of town gives up after a couple of miles, where escape from a life of boredom and emptiness is almost impossible. Forced into crimes he never wanted to commit, 11-year-old Pietro reaches crisis point when his parents ignore his pleas for support and his schoolteacher turns her back on him - looking for help, he find instead a terrible revenge. Escape from Ischiano Scalo comes at a price. Life there will never be the same again." Through the eyes of a desperate boy and a deluded small-town Don Juan, Niccolo Ammaniti gradually reveals his cast of misfits, lighting up the grand dreams and sad realities of ordinary people living extraordinary lives in this taut and bittersweet masterpiece.
"Chilling and intimate, Ammaniti's work brings life to a deceptively quiet town and its wealth of eclectic and unsettling residents." - PW.
"Although the book deals with heavy issues, the 400-plus pages flow effortlessly." - Library Journal.
"... the way he portrays Italy's fabled old loveliness with its desperate embrace of Americanized pop culture, qualify him as an astute psychologist and sharp social critic. Teems with incident, wit and pathos." - Kirkus.
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This is the fourth novel from the author of the stunning I'm Not Scared.
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