FOREIGN RIGHTS CATALOGUE Turin International Book Fair 2016 O T A G O
Marco Nardini Literary Agent
[email protected] Headquarter Agency: Via Sant’Isaia, 73/2-75 · 40123 Bologna (Italy) Tel./Fax +39 (0)51 9844613
[email protected] · www.otago.it Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otago.agency LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/otago-cultural-services-&-agency
I N D E X
• OTAGO PROPOSALS Fiction Highlights 3 Fiction Backlist 17 Other titles of Fiction 18 Non-fiction Highlights 19 Non-fiction Backlist 28 Other titles of Non-fiction 30 • Laurana Editore Fiction 32 Non-fiction 39 Music 45 Guides 46
HIGH LIGHTS
(Snow, Dog, Foot)
“One of the most competent and astonishing novelist of our literary scene”. Umberto Rossi, «Pulp libri»
“book of the day” by fahrenheit – rai radio 3
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 144 · RELEASE DATE: nov 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Claudio Morandini NEVE, CANE, pIEDE
“If you wish to combine a boundless fantasy with a philosophy of life that knows no lies, Morandini is the one for you. He is simply one of the greatest Italian writers of our time”. Fabrizio Ottaviani, «il Giornale» “This is an impeccable short novel, full of attention to detail and musical rhythm. Morandini leaves behind everything that is unnecessary, revealing himself as a writer of things rather than words. Nevertheless, he can also make lyric sparks and visions out of these words”. Fabrizio Coscia, «il Mattino» “Snow, dog, foot is a book made by that lonely splendor able to deal with the difficult boundary between what is material and what is not”. Orazio Labbate, «il Sole 24 Ore» In the Alps, there is a lonesome valley where the old and scatterbrained Adelmo Farandola wonders, crazy with solitude. Adelmo’s only companion is a nagging dog; together they form an unusual comic pairing, since Adelmo is able to understand its talking as well as those of other animals of the mountains. He also understands the voices of the wind, the sky, and even of the dead. Struggling in the wild and hostile nature around him, we follow him in the changing of seasons and in the repetitiveness of his actions: but then one day, as spring arrives, Adelmo and his dog notice a foot in the melting snow. Snow, dog, foot is a strange little book that one can read cover to cover, enchanted by its characters and their sarcastic profundity. Claudio Morandini lives in Aosta. He wrote comedies for the radio, monologues for the theatre and several novels. His previous novel A gran giornate (In great days) won “Città di Trebisacce” Literary Prize in 2013. His account Dita fredde (Cold fingers) is included in the italian-american Santi – Lives of Modern Saints (Black Arrow Press, Baltimora, 2007).
3
HIGH LIGHTS
(Neither in the sky nor on the earth) “Morelli’s comedy is excellent and accompanied by a proud melancholy. His ghosts are filled with cinematic grace and this is one of his best novels”. Fabio Donalisio, «Blow Up»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 240 · RELEASE DATE: mar 2016 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Paolo Morelli Né in cielo né in terra
“It’s not easy to read Morelli’s book without feeling lost and totally amazed”. Andrea Di Carlo, «Mangialibri» This novel pretends to be a remake of Ghosts of Rome, a 1961 Italian comedy film by Alberto Castellani starring Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni and Eduardo De Filippo. It’s the story of a group of friends who decide to write a book about the speculative overbuilding that they witnessed in Trastevere, when they were forced out of their home. The problem is that, at the present time, they are dead. The main character of Neither in the sky nor on the earth is the only one who is still alive, and he decides to help his friends writing their memoir: facing the diaspora that follows their eviction, these ghosts perpetuate the same attitude they had in life; their hilarious, insolent stories become a journey inside the very heart of the Eternal City, telling what Rome is when you’re looking at it from the inside out. Born in Rome, where he still lives, Paolo Morelli is a screenplayer, playwright and actor. He also writes book and film reviews. His novels have been published by Quodlibet, Nottetempo and Sossella.
4
HIGH LIGHTS
Imprimatur
(On the Death of Don Masino)
“Written as if it were a screenplay, On the Death of Don Masino is a claustrophobic attempt to assume how things really went after World War II. Maybe literature can really accomplish what the research for truth is unable to”. «Dazebao News»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: CRIME NOVEL · PAGES: 216 · RELEASE DATE: apr 2016 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Pietro Orsatti In morte di don masino
A journalist’s obession: to find out what happened to Stefano Bontate’s treasure. He was killed on 23 April 1981 by Totò Riina’s clan, at the beginning of the Second Mafia War. How much money did Bontate, called “Prince of Villagrazia”, accumulate in his life? Billions, it seems, enough to affect the economy of an entire Country. But all tracks of it have been lost. Reporter Francesco Felice meets mysterious characters willing to help him find peace and answers. They will bring him in front of a revived dead man that lives hidden in New Jersey: he is Tommaso Buscetta, Boss of both worlds, and he will tell Francesco the entire story. Based on historical documents and deeds, this novel has the chance to tell the story, as close as possible to the truth, of our unfortunate Republic. Pietro Orsatti (Ferrara, 1963) has lived most of his life in Rome. He worked and collaborated with various newspapers and TV stations, including «il manifesto», «Diario», «Liberazione», «Left», «Nuova Ecologia», «Terra», Radio Popolare, Rai, Arcoiris, Agenzia Dire, «Micro Mega», «Antimafia Duemila» e «I Siciliani/Giovani». He wrote and directed more than twenty documentaries. His latest book is Rome is burning (Imprimatur, 2015).
PIETRO ORSATTI
MORTE MASINO R O M A N Z O
Imprimatur
5
HIGH LIGHTS
(Darkland. Evil seeks darkness and hates light) “It’s a historic thriller filled with essential considerations and an ending that will surely move you. A must-read”. «Cultora»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: novel · PAGES: 254 · RELEASE DATE: OCT 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Paolo Grugni DARKLAND
Munich. Karl Jerzyck, a criminology professor, accidentally discovers some bones in a wood near Karlsruhe. They are the remains of several people disappeared 25 years before under circumstances that are still unclear. Arno Schulze, Kripo’s inspector who followed the case at the time, decides to resume the investigation with the help of the professor. Soon they find themselves entangled in the schemes of a group of Neonazis linked with an esoteric cult. In the meantime, something strange is happening in Freiburg. Jerzyck e Schulze will find out that someone decided to carry on the experiments that took place in Auschwitz by the hand of Joseph Mengele. Why? And what is the announcement that will be made on the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials? Darkland offers a disturbing point of view to Nazi ideology and its vision of the world, culminating with an incredible ending: what the world would have been if Hilter had won the war. Paolo Grugni (Milano, 1962) published seven more novels: Let It Be (Mondadori, 2004), Mondoserpente (Alacrán, 2006), Aiutami (Barbera, 2009), Italian Sharia (Perdisa Pop, 2010), L’odore acido di quei giorni (Laurana, 2012), La geografia delle piogge (Laurana, 2013), L’Antiesorcista (Novecento, 2015).
6
HIGH LIGHTS
(Like the Midnight Sky)
“The case of Come il cielo a mezzanotte, that is climbing the Amazon charts”. «Il Mattino» Over 1,500 downloads in a few months! To be published in German and English.
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 194 · RELEASE DATE: NOV 2013 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD D.E. SOLD TO: GERMANY (Bastei Lübbe) - UNITED KINGDOM (Bastei Lübbe)
Eva Mangas COME IL CIELO A MEZZANOTTE
Zoe is enjoying her new life in Paris, working as an au pair for the two children of the rich Duville family, with a job at an art gallery that is her real passion and a lovely South American friend with whom she shares all the pleasures the city has to offer. One night, she is at home with the children, when she suddenly hears a noise. The Duvilles are back earlier than expected, or someone else is in the house. In the darkness, Zoe sneaks downstairs and finds herself facing a tall man with broad shoulders, his face disguised by a hood under which a pair of incredibly dark blue eyes flashes. The stranger is trying to steal the pictures in the lounge, but as soon as he acknowledges her presence, he gets closer to her, staring with his intense dark eyes and he suddenly gives her the most passionate kiss she has ever had. A kiss she will never forget. One day, a tall man with broad shoulders enters the art gallery. He has the same eyes as the thief. Is he really the man who kissed her in the darkness? Why is he back? And above all, what secrets is he hiding? EVA MANGAS is a young writer who lives in the Italian town of Pordenone. She works in communication and has already written a few novels. She has two children and a husband with coffee-coloured eyes. Her first novel Come il cielo a mezzanotte was published by Sperling and it is to be digitally published in both German and English by Bastei Lübbe. 7
HIGH LIGHTS
(An Embrace in the Darkness)
This is a new, spicy episode of the passionate story of Zoe and Jules, irresistible main characters of Come il cielo a mezzanotte.
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 118 · RELEASE DATE: MAR 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Eva Mangas UN ABBRACCIO NEL BUIO
Many things have changed since the days when Zoe used to stroll through Paris with a smile on her face and a pencil in her hair. She is back in Italy now, in Rome, but she is still wearing the earrings that Jules gave her that day at the African market, asking her to wear them and them only... Under the Eiffel tower, Zoe left all she had: the job of her dreams at the art gallery, the two little terrors she used to baby sit, and her own heart, which is now in pieces. She absolutely needs to forget Jules and move on. Maybe, by starting a relation with Salem, a fascinating young man with black eyes she accidentally met one night in Trastevere. But this is not easy, if she keeps dreaming of Jules and their eyes meet again, night after night. Maybe she is not dreaming. Maybe Jules is really there, looking at her while she sleeps and silently listening to her breathing.
EVA MANGAS is a young writer who lives in the Italian town of Pordenone. She works in communication and has already written a few novels. She has two children and a husband with coffee-coloured eyes. Her first novel Come il cielo a mezzanotte was published by Sperling and it is to be digitally published in both German and English by Bastei Lübbe. 8
HIGH LIGHTS
(Burning at the Stake) “Sartori’s voice opens a new, original and convincing way for Italian contemporary novel.” Carla Cristofoli, Altritaliani
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 200 · RELEASE DATE: MAY 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Giacomo Sartori ROGO
At the end of the 70’s, young and penniless Lucilla finds redemption through her relationship with Ilio, a mountaineer. Coming from a troubled family, Anna is bulimic and unable to let her voice be heard, especially by her father. In 1600, Gheta is accused of practicing witchcraft. Lucilla, Anna and Gheta: three women from three different worlds. Nevertheless, what they have in common is filicide, a tragedy that will force their lives to intersect. Burning at the Stake is an Alpine novel where cold and snow oppose the warmth of fire.
Giacomo Sartori was born in 1958. He is an agronomist and he worked in various Third World countries concerning International Cooperation matters. He published four novels translated in French and five collections of short stories. His latest books are Sacrifice (Ilatic, 2013) and Zoo for two (with Marino Magliani, Perdisa Pop, 2013). He writes on Nazione Indiana, one of the most popular literary blogs in Italy.
9
HIGH LIGHTS
(This Silence Will End)
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: novel · PAGES: 180 · RELEASE DATE: feb 2016 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Maria Lombardi Finirà questo silenzio
This is the story of two sisters, Silvia and Caterina, ten and five years old. They grow up in a distracted family so they hold on to each other, because their mother is depressed and their father leads a double life. One day, the mother dies. One of them sees her jumping out the window, but she decides to keep it a secret and ends up being trapped by it. A few years later, their father has a new spouse; the relationship between the two sisters begins to come undone, until they fight and completely grow apart. Their lives will bring them in opposite sides of Italy, one in Rome and the other still in their hometown, Catanzaro, but distance can be as strong as any other bond…
Maria Lombardi was born in Palermo in 1962. She lives in Rome working as a journalist for «Il Messaggero». She writes mostly about local and crime news. In 2009 she published Facebook, a user’s manual with Sergio Scalia. This is her first novel.
10
HIGH LIGHTS
Maria Cristina Sarò CAMPANELLA “The first process of wine is the grape harvest. The harvest also belongs to words, feelings and people who, by human nature, have a weak point. Thus the harvest is not just part of grapes, it is also part of man.”
FRENCH TRANSLATION SAMPLE available
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 104 · RELEASE DATE: SEP 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
(Campanella)
Sicily. Sciacca and the vineyards between Menfi and the Belice river. Ina and Campanella are two young lovers. Ina belongs to the Pensabene, a mafia family who governs the economy of the whole area. Campanella is a young lawyer and he has a cousin, Franco, a crazy man who talks to the vineyards. In 1984 the Campanella trial begins: the Minchialuzzo family charges the young lawyer with an improper wedding and the damage of a burnt lot of vineyards. Ina disappears during the trial and her body is found in the sea. The trial lasts thirty years and keeps on happening just like a grape harvest: events weave together as grapevines, curving and collapsing on each other. The five stages of wine are like the five stages of life. The protagonist loses Ina and is left alone, against everyone, with the promise of a flower inside his mouth, a little bell that each night he throws in the sea for her. The novel takes place in Sicily, into the biggest vineyard of Europe: the Menfishire (www.menfishire.it). It is an intense environmental and territorial meditation, focusing on the wine market and its peculiarities inside the sicilian territory. Talking about sicilian wine means talking about Sicily, reporting its excellence but also its strong sense of community: wine cellars are like communities of people living off sharing in a year’s time, there is no individual as there is no single wine bottle, there is a community as there is a vineyard. The book wants to be a narrative project, thanks to the support of the National Association “Le donne del vino” (www.ledonnedelvino.com), in order to meet wine workers and look for other stories, talking about a world made of communities and ritualities. An online website will tell about the faces and stories of people met by the author in the wine cellars during the several presentations of her book (www.lestoriedicampanella.it). MARIA CRISTINA SARò (Messina, 1983) is a book and play writer. She published: Maria Paiato. Un teatro del personaggio (2011); the tale Salvo e Sara. Palermo 92 (2014); AccussìGiampilieri, a tale about the October 2009 flood in Messina (anthology La giusta parte, 2011); the monologue Donna dellìtalia, reporting tale about women and workers (volume Fiori dal cemento, 2013). Campanella is her first novel.
11
AMOS EDIZIONI
HIGH LIGHTS
(A Stay in Zeewijk)
“Soggiorno a Zeewijk is a small gem. There are delightful pages in this book”. «La Repubblica»
SAMPLE FRENCH TRANSLATION available
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 180 · RELEASE DATE: MAR 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Marino Magliani SOGGIORNO A ZEEWIJK
Finalist at L’Albatros - Città di Palestrina Prize for travel literature. This book is a walk through the streets of a quarter of the Dutch sea town of ljmuiden, not far from Amsterdam. Built on the sand dunes, every 50 years this town is forced to change its urban shape. This is the story of a changing landscape, of houses whose lives are shorter than the ones of their inhabitants. It is also the story of an unexpected encounter, happy and melancholic at the same time, like anything else in Zeewijk. It is the novel of an observer but also a map, a travel book between Holland and Liguria, where the author sets intense pages amongst hills and orchards. MARINO MAGLIANI was born in 1960. He is a novelist and translator from Spanish and Dutch. He lives in Holland, by the North Sea. His novels have been published by Sironi and Longanesi. Some of his novels have been translated into Dutch and German.
12
HIGH LIGHTS
(Andrea Comes Back in September)
From this book comes the theatrical pièce of the same name
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 128 · RELEASE DATE: NOV 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Alessandro Gallo ANDREA TORNA A SETTEMBRE From Campania to Sicily, a story of love and friendship that clashes to the plagues of organized crime. A woman named Andrea learns to look at the world from a highest point in the village of Coppola and Domitiana. Here some interesting characters unfold: Maria, who’s a deaf-mute girl. Martino, with his eyes full of hope. Vincenzo “the shorty” and Vincenzo “the tall”, four hands that work together to protect their land from a dangerous fire. Assuntina, that feels always spaced out, but she never gives up. These are some of the stories that take place in Castelvolturno. And this is the place from where Andrea’s feelings and relationships run for a long trip until Pozzallo, on the coast, where the beach has been and still is a stage for corpses. Andrea’s strength screams out along the stories while giving out her love and kisses that will cure everybody’s wounds. She puts herself naked in front of these men and the sea for the sake of freedom and for the beauty of existence. For all those wounds that live inside each one of them, that hurt humanity and all those who are still fighting with strength, anger and tenderness. A fight against that life that comes back every time, in September. ALESSANDRO GALLO was born in Naples in 1986. He is a theater director and editor in civil commitment fields. He won the national prize ‘Iride, Cava de’ Tirreni’ with his novel Scimmie (5000 copies sold) published by Navarra Editore, that inspired the theater performance di carne. In 2011 he was curator of the anthology La parola liberate dalle mafie, and in 2012 of Italian Shorts. Brevi storie lungo il bel paese. In 2013 he collaborated to the creation of the anthology La giusta parte, testimoni e storie dell’antimafia by Mario Gelardi and to La grammatica di Nisida by Maria Franco awarded with the prize ‘Premio Napoli Cultural 2013’. 13
HIGH LIGHTS
(Adele)
“One of the best novels of 2015.” «Sul Romanzo»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 176 · RELEASE DATE: FEB 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Rossana Carturan ADELE
Adele is a woman trapped in a repressive family. Her life is tormented by poetry, the kind that nobody had the courage to write. Adele has a very little role in this family that soon begins to fall apart, until she finally abandons her children in pursuit of her independence. Her story brings her in different cities, from Turin, where she works as a journalist for the “People’s Daily”, to Milan where she is caught in a turning point in History: that tragic 12th December 1969. She finds herself being both a journalist and a mother, looking for her children who have become political activists and were involved in the Piazza Fontana massacre. Adele meets the disillusion of her time and discovers love hidden behind friendship, starting a truth-seeking path that will lead her to challenge time and her entire world…
ROSSANA CARTURAN was born in Turin and lives in Latina. With her novels and short stories have won several literary awards. Adele is her third novel.
14
HIGH LIGHTS
From this book comes the theatrical pièce of the same name, directed by Mario Gelardi
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 160 · RELEASE DATE: MAR 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Emanuele Tirelli PEdro felipe (Pedro Felipe)
“The novel is supported by a writing that has the bittersweet taste of theatrical writing. Tirelli uses a language that’s not trivial, never dull.” «Satisfiction»
Spain. Pedro Felipe Colella was born in the neighbourhood Polve from a family of Italian origins that moved to Spain to open a clothes shop. In 1988, at the age of seven, his parents decided to move to Milan where Pedro meets new friends and starts new adventures. In Milan, Pedro has an affair and a daughter, Claudia, who becomes his partner and with who he moves back to Spain to the neighbourhood of Polve. Pedro Felipe Collela is the main character and leitmotif of a story in which good and evil get so close to be hardly recognizable from each other. He is the animator of other people’ lives. Pedro is the portrait of great passion towards a woman, a family and his homeland where the sea embraces everything without taking anything.
Emanuele Tirelli was born in Napoli in 1977. He works as writer, journalist, press office and theatre playwright signing works like L’Incoronata (2011), Da questa parte (2012) e Questione di un attimo (2013). He writes for the national newspaper «Il Mattino», and debuts as narrator with the story La tempesta perfetta written for Vicolo Della Ratta, Civico 14 (Mutamenti, 2012). Pedro Felipe is his first novel.
15
HIGH LIGHTS
DI
ANIMALI
(Fabulous deaths of common animals) With 25 illustrations by Carmine Luino. “Freschi” is a series edited by the writer Francesco Abate.
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: SHORT STORIES · PAGES: 176 · RELEASE DATE: MAY 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Renato Polizzi MORTI FAVOLOSE COMUNI
We know everything about animal life: food habits, migration seasons, coupling periods, courting methods, nursing times, hunting strategies, lethargy seasons. But we do not know a thing about the way they die. Fabulous deaths of common animals is the first bestiary that tries to unveil this mystery through twenty exemplary stories of animal deaths, including those about a particular kind of man and the mythological phoenix. A delightful inquiry to discover the kantian death of the cockroach, the little-equestrian one of the horse, the landscaping one of the camel, the white one of the beaver, the detached one of the cicada. But why a bestiary? Because, as Cortàzar says, bestiaries are like mirrors, «the ones you cannot find in bedrooms, but is good looking into from time to time».
RENATO POLIZZi lives in Marsala where he runs a communication agency (Communico). He is chief editor for both Radio Itaca 98.4 and the freepress journal Marsala c’è. He published two books: Riso all’Ortica (Nettle rice) and Totomorfosi and (Totomorphosis), both for Navarra Editore.
16
La Linea
BACK LIST
(All days in a row)
Against the underworld setting of the Western Riviera, Liguria, the never placated fight between partisans and fascists. “Reading Garbarino’s novel, sometimes you laugh and sometimes you chew on life’s gristle. They feature adventure, restlessness and the assessment of lives that’s impossible to keep on balance”. «Corriere della Sera» “Lively and mixed, Garbarino’s narrative is similar to South American ‘dirty realism’, the reign of criminal stories and no longer bucolic settings”. «Il Riformista»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: CRIME NOVEL · PAGES: 272 · RELEASE DATE: MAY 2013 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Andrea Garbarino I GIORNI IN FILA
In a seaside town in Liguria, “gloomy even under the sun”, stories on the verge between a vile present and an indecipherable past weave together. Sandra gives voice to them: she is a young woman with androgynous traits and abrupt manners, burdened with a bulky load of mysterious family happenings that feed her angry pain of living. On 25th April, Liberation Day, she receives an envelope containing a red pill: “Medicine for your memory” reads the anonymous letter that goes with it. The sleepy life of Sandra’s soul grows from now on lively with surveillance, intimidation and break-ins, in a crescendo of enigmatic events revolving around her father, who fled to Provence so many years before, and her maternal grandfather, a fascist vicepodestà victim of a weird accident. While Sandra delves into the past of her family and land in order to understand what is going on, she finds herself more and more plunged into a magmatic and intriguing world, populated by former partisans and supporters of the Republic of Salò, underworld thugs and white collar hustlers, all looking for a hidden treasure for which they are ready to kill and die. The book is admirably written and brings alongside a fascinating noir plot and an underlying reflection on greed and memory, in which the latter can be a healthy antidote to the former. Andrea Garbarino was born and lives in Milan, a city which he likes to desert in order to stay in a house on the river in Valtellina, or on a small island of the Sporades, Greece. He is a journalist and has worked for many Italian magazines (including «La Repubblica», «Il Mondo» and «Panorama») until a few years ago he decided to devote himself to fiction. After the success of Luz, a picaresque novel about a plot to kill Fidel Castro, released in 2006 by Marco Tropea Editore, in 2010 he published Gli appartati (The Secluded, Marco Tropea Editore again) which has had a great feedback from critics.
17
BACK LIST
OTHER titles of fictioN: • Silvio Valpreda, La finzione infinita [Infinite Fiction], Eris Edizioni, 2015 • Salvatore Savoia, Gioco a nascondere [The Hiding Game], Torri del Vento, 2015 • Aldo Penna, Il palazzo dei Re [The Kings Palace], Torri del Vento, 2015
[email protected]
FICTION
• Claudio Puglisi, Io della palla non ho paura [I’m not Frightened of
the Ball], Torri del Vento, 2014 • Stefano Bortolussi, Verso dove si va per questa strada [Where will
this road lead us], Fanucci, 2013 (Young Adult) • Giovanni Giordano, Sul medesimo parallelo [On the Same Parallel], Torri del Vento, 2013 • Claudio Morandini, A gran giornate [In great days], La Linea, 2012 • Alessandro Gallo, Scimmie [Monkeys], Navarra Editore, 2011 • Andrea Garbarino, Gli appartati [The Secluded], Marco Tropea Editore, 2010 • Cinzia Bomoll, Lei, che nelle foto non sorrideva [She who never
smiled for picture], Fazi, 2006 • Andrea Garbarino, Luz [Luz], Marco Tropea Editore, 2006 • Paolo Grugni, Let it be [Let it be], Mondadori, 2004
18
HIGH LIGHTS
(Travellers in the Cold)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: travel literature · PAGES: 240 · RELEASE DATE: nov 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Sparajurij viaggiatori nel freddo “Travellers in the Cold is capable to prove wrong the stereotypes that are – sadly – took for granted by the majority of our population”. «Diacritica» “We are invited to a journey that it’s not only geographic. Above all, this a poetic trip led by someone with a very strong and lyric personality”. «FuoriAsse» Is it possible to survive the Russian winter with the sole help of literature? The main character of this story is in Moscow to discovers how famous places from books and history appear today: he visits Peredelkino and travels on night trains, while his meetings with writers and people of the contemporary metropolis reveal to him the secrets of a city filled with old and restless souls. He touches the fire that burns beneath the skin of Moscow and then flows into its literary production, but he also witnesses the cruel conflicts regarding society and economy on the eve of Ukrainian war. The authors of this book are Elisa Baglioni and Francesco Ruggiero of sparajurij collective. Their purpose is to create a “total writing” based on experiments with words and visual elements, . Their video productions won several awards and they published novels and short stories. Elisa Baglioni (1980) has lived in Moscow for many years. She is a Russian translator of contemporary novelists and poets. Francesco Ruggiero (1977) is the founder of sparajurij. He is specialised in Russian literature and contemporary Italian poetry. 19
HIGH LIGHTS
(The Words of Love)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: ESSAY · PAGES: 104 · RELEASE DATE: JAN 2016 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Davide Rondoni - Federica D’Amato I TERMINI DELL’AMORE “There’s nothing conventional or trite here. This book inspires readers to agree and object at the same time, and they can always learn something from it. Just like it happened to its authors”. Giuseppe Boi, «il Centro» First comes Joy. “Then Grace, third Beauty, forth Smile, fifth Passion, sixth Memory and seventh End. But first, there’s always Joy. I want to take apart these words with you: it’s a challenge.” In the space of seven days, seven conversations and seven words, Davide Rondoni and Federica D’Amato try and understand the reason why love is the most (un)just of all things. Together they discover the true meaning of those seven words that live in every love story, until they find that what remains translates into poetry. Davide Rondoni (Forlì, 1964) is a poet and writer. He published many books of poems and he works for Rizzoli, Il Saggiatore, Marietti, Garzanti, Piemme, San Paolo etc. regarding their poetry collections. He founded the “Center for contemporary poets of the University of Bologna” and he is director of «clanDestino» magazine and journalist for «Avvenire», «Tempo» and «Sole24 Ore». His works are also published in France, USA, Venezuela, Russia, UK, China, Croatia and other countries. Federica D’Amato (Pescara, 1984) works in publishing and journalism. Her latest collections of poems is Being 30 (2013). She translated Tom Carver and Ramon Llull. She collaborates with «L’Espresso» and other foreign and Italian literary magazines.
20
HIGH LIGHTS
(Love is not Fair)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: ESSAY · PAGES: 112 · RELEASE DATE: NOV 2013 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Davide Rondoni L’amore non é giusto “Dante, Rilke, Carver and Leopardi: Rondoni summons them to a whirling discussion. They seem to play with the reader, just as if they were sitting with him at a cafè, beer in hand, chatting about the most difficult and full of traps of all topics”. Luca Lampariello, «Mangialibri»
Davide Rondoni wrote a book of notes about love and its unlimited power to rule our lives. His clear prose is full of echos and quotes by philosophers and intellectuals, including Leopardi, Barthes, Luzi, Baumann, T.S. Eliot, Blake, Cesare Zavattini, Anne Sexton, Hilda Hilsts and many more. “Love is not a feeling”, Rondoni claims just as Dante did before him when he wrote that “Love moves”. It’s a strenght. The knowledge of love has no words because it’s a fractal geometry, and that is the reason why we all wonder: what are we talking about when we talk about love?
Davide Rondoni (Forlì, 1964) is a poet and writer. He published many books of poems and he works for Rizzoli, Il Saggiatore, Marietti, Garzanti, Piemme, San Paolo etc. regarding their poetry collections. He founded the “Center for contemporary poets of the University of Bologna” and he is director of «clanDestino» magazine and journalist for «Avvenire», «Tempo» and «Sole24 Ore». His works are also published in France, USA, Venezuela, Russia, UK, China, Croatia and other countries.
21
HIGH LIGHTS
Andrea Speziali ITALIAN LIBERTY
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: ART · PAGES: 224 · RELEASE DATE: NOV 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
(Italian Liberty. A New Season for Art-Nouveau)
Liberty was a style of art popular in Italy during 1890-1910. Its peculiarity was a sinous line able to communicate emotions and awake spirits with a bourgeois and refined taste. “Italian Liberty” is a photography contest and it became a census of art pieces that have been overlooked or even forgotten. Made possible by partecipants and collectors, this book celebrates its second edition held in 2014.
Born in 1988, Andrea Speziali is one of the most distinguished connoisseurs of Art Nouveau. He received a PhD from the Academy of Fine Arts of Urbino. Since then, he took part of various exhibitions (Amsterdam’s Affordable Art Fair, Bologna’s Wikiarte, Venice Biennale) and published an artist monograph on Mario Mirko Vucetich. He created the “Romagna Liberty” project and “Italia Liberty”, a web portal to conduct a census of all Liberty architectures in Italy.
22
HIGH LIGHTS
Paolo Monelli
ossia il vero bevitore (O.P., ie The Real Drinker)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: FOOD & WINE · PAGES: 260 · RELEASE DATE: SEP 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Optimus Potor
The Paolo Monelli masterpiece REpublished in September 2015.
Optimus Potor, the ultimate drinker: serialised in parts on «Gazzetta del Popolo» and later published by Longanesi in 1963, this book celebrates Monelli’s passion for wine and food increased by his long-lasting experience as gourmet. Through a reportage written with lively enthusiasm, the author remembers the historical and private path regarding the research for pleasure, including considerations about the style that marks the real drinker, or better the Optimus Potor, and philosophical opinions on the rite of enological ecstasy. The reader will be invited to share a real literary symposium, between exemplar quotes and the respect for Italian enological tradition. Wine, beer, cognac, gods and heroes of every experts’ daily life, they will all be glorified by an authentic study on the art of proper drinking. Monelli accompanies the reader with big elegance, sharing his personal memories as journalist and real connoisseur. Luigi Novello, his friend and colleague, refines the work with tasteful and ironic comic strips. PAOLO MONELLI was born in Fiorano Modenese in 1891. He fought with the Alpinis in the First World War. That experience gave life to his first novel, Le scarpe al sole (Shoes in the sun). He worked as a foreign correspondent for several newspapers. He died in Rome in 1984.
23
HIGH LIGHTS
(The Walls of Tunis)
“This book gives back to the walls their human and rebel dimension”. Valentina Porcheddu, «il Mediterraneo»
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: HISTORY · PAGES: 192 · RELEASE DATE: mar 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Luce Lacquaniti i muri di tunisi
“It’s a journey through the hopes of a revolution and the rage of the people who felt betrayed by a change that took too long to arrive”. Francesca Caferri, «la Repubblica» In order to talk about the difficult “transition period” that Tunisia lived from 2011 to 2014, Luce Lacquaniti observed the walls in the streets: a spontaneous and public debate took place on them, the same way it happens between people when they’re at school, in a shop, or even at the State assembly. The writings and drawings she saw were actual speeches about revolution, forms of repression, politics-religion relation, women’s issues and, overall, they represented the cultural scene of that period. As if it was a mosaic, the author walks through the big Bourguiba Avenue, the ville nouvelle, crumbling tram stations and labor union offices: Tunisia’s many voices bring to life a common message, while graffeurs, activists and artists take possession of the street to reclaim their rightful place of freedom. Luce Lacquaniti’s critique, including contributions from Tunisian writers and authors, is an essential contribution to understand the social and political transformations that occurred in Tunisia. Luce Lacquaniti (Rome, 1987) works as interpreter and translator. She has a Bachelor degree in Oriental Studies. She lived in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Palestine. 24
HIGH LIGHTS
(Riding a Vespa to Capo Nord)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: TRAVEL LITERATURE · PAGES: 224 · RELEASE DATE: LUG 2013 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Filippo Logli in vespa a capo nord “Logli’s pages radiate the enthusiasm of someone who is unable to stand still because he has the journey in his blood. The author tells us the pleasure of seeing the world with no hurry”. «Touring» “It looks like a dream, but it really happened”. «Bell’Europa» This book is 9.680 kilometers long. Riding a 1982 PX Vespa, Filippo and Alessandro tell their journey from Pontedera (Italy) to Capo Nord. Written as one classic logbook, it is also a tribute to “the old and tireless Vespa” as a symbol of freedom and discovery: every step along the way is a chance to find unexpected landscapes, because “destinations are replaceable and you just have to go with the flow”.
Filippo Logli was born in 1985. After a Bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies, he spent four years travelling alone around the world. In 2012 Piaggio Group, which designes and sells Vespa scooters, believed in his project and sponsored his journey to Capo Nord.
25
HIGH LIGHTS
(One Hundred Days. Napoleon’s Last Adventure)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: HISTORY · PAGES: 280 · RELEASE DATE: DEC 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Filippo Ambrosini I CENTO GIORNI. L’ULTIMA AVVENTURA DI NAPOLEONE
“There was really a chance that Napoleon could win that battle? Our answer is no. Why? It was because of Wellington? Or Blücher? No: it was God’s will. Napoleon’s victory at Waterloo was not admissible by the law of XIX century. There was no place for him in the events that would have followed and his excessive importance was unsettling the balance of the universe. His downfall was decided, he was an obstacle to God. Waterloo was not a battle: it was a turning point in the eyes of the universe.”
Filippo Ambrosini published studies and papers on French Revolution and First French Empire, including Piemonte giacobino e napoleonico (Bompiani, 2000), L’ombra della Restaurazione. Cospiratori, riformisti e reazionari in Piemonte e Liguria (1814-1831) (Il Punto, 2002) e Carlo Alberto Re (Il Capricorno, 2004). With his son Francesco he wrote a novel in 2014, L’ussaro e Margherita. Romanzo giacobino (Neos edizioni).
26
HIGH LIGHTS
And You Know It Clap Your Hands
(If You Are Happy. And You Know It Clap Your Hands)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: ILLUSTRATED · PAGES: 40 · RELEASE DATE: FEB 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN/ENGLISH · RIGHTS: WORLD
Michela Muserra IF YOU ARE HAPPY
Small thoughts to improve your happiness. 35 illustrations. English and italian text. If you are happy and you know it clap your hands is a little book of images and brief thoughts. Quick sentences that explore the answer to the question: what makes us happy? With a soft sense of humor, each drawing takes us to a universal answer that sits deep in the hearts of each one of us. The main character of these drawings is a simple figure of a stick-man with a red heart drawn on his t-shirt. He wears it like a motto. Each illustration is drawn with a minimalist, almost primitive style which mirrors the essence of the book’s message. This is a book for children and adults alike. The stick-man drawn by Michela Muserra reminds us to “Always listen to your heart.” It’s like a note, a Post-it in our everyday lives; this book is an invitation to celebrate life in each and every moment, good or bad, as long as we stay conscious of the fact that happiness cannot be found anywhere else, if not within ourselves.
MICHELA MUSERRA is an italian artist and illustrator born and raised in Italy. After graduating at the School of Visual Art, she worked as a freelance illustrator creating short comics strips for some local zines and advertising cartoons for the web. Her work has been showed worldwide in galleries and reviewed on art books and magazines. In 2003 she moved to New York City where she currently lives and works. If you are happy is her first picture book published by Caraco Editore, Italy 2015. 27
BACK LIST
(Glaucus’ Route)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: ESSAY · PAGES: 272 · RELEASE DATE: may 2011 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Maria Silvia Codecasa La rotta di Glauco “Codecasa is a brave and resolute person. She lived extraordinary experiences and I am glad that she decided to share them with us”. «Il pozzo e lo straniero»
Anthropologist and linguist, Maria Silvia Codecasa conjectures that Mycenaean civilization reached the Mediterranean island of Elba and brought alongside with them the cult of Glaucus, the pre-Hellenic god of seas. Her theory originates from the peculiar religious rituals that she witnessed in Sant’Ilario di Campo, a village on the west side of the island. To prove her thesis, she travelled from 1985 to 1989 on little sail boats, visiting all the places that preserved legends of Glaucus, Jason and Hercules. Her journey became a book that embraces toponymy and myth, adventures, pirates and even the risk of shipwreck.
Maria Silvia Codecasa (Venice, 1924) lives between Italy and Venezuela. She has been an English professor for thirty years and teached Italian at the universities of Colombo, Sri Lanka and South Corea. She published more than ten books, including anthropological studies, plays and novels.
28
BACK LIST
(Egypt, a military democracy)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: HISTORY · PAGES: 240 · RELEASE DATE: oct 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Giuseppe Acconcia Egitto, democrazia militare
“This is maybe the best report of the recent Egyptian parabola that you can find”. Gianni Del Panta, «Perunaltracittà»
As part of the civilian population who lives in Egypt, Giuseppe Acconcia examines the political and social scenario from the Iranian student riots of 2009 to the revolution that broke out in Tahrir Square in 2011. This is not only an historical recostruction of popular uprisings, Rabaa el Adaweya massacre and minorities and migrants persecutions: described by people who actually made the revolution, from Muslim Brotherhood to young protesters, Egypt, a military democracy is also a look from the inside to the years that changed the country for good.
Giuseppe Acconcia is a journalist and researcher specialized in Middle East. Since 2005, he lived in Iran, Egypt and Syria. He writes for Al Ahram, The Indipendent, Il Manifesto; his papers are published by Il Mulino, The International Spectator and Ispi. In 2013 he has been awarded the Mediterranean Journalists prize. An introduction essay to Egypt, a military democracy is written by Sonallah Ibrahim, an egyptian writer. Three of his novels have been published in Italy.
29
BACK LIST
OTHER titles of Non-fictioN: • Antonio Ranieri, Sette anni di sodalizio con Giacomo Leopardi [Seven Years of Friendship with Giacomo Leopardi], Torri del Vento, 2015 • Matilde Incorpora - Michele Di Dio, Il fotografo cuoco [The Cook Photographer], Torri del Vento, 2015
[email protected]
NON-FICTION
• Gian Carlo Montanari, Porcomondo. L’epopea del maiale nel territorio padano dall’antichità al mondo attuale [Pig-world. The epic story of pork in the Po valley from ancient times to present world], Il Novello, 2015 • Giulia Di Girolamo - Alessandro Gallo, Non diamoci pace. Diario di un viaggio (il)legale [Don’t bring peace to us. Diary of an (il)legal trip], Caracò Editore, 2014 • Amelia Crisantino, Fiabe siciliane [Sicilian fairytailes], Di Girolamo Editore, 2013 • Riccardo Abbamonte, La nascita della Marina Militare italiana [The birth of the Italian Navy], Paolo Sorba Editore, 2015 • Marco Formato, Menotti Garibaldi. Un eroe di due mondi [Menotti Garibaldi. A two worlds hero], Paolo Sorba Editore, 2015 • Annita Garibaldi Jallet - Anna Maria Lazzarino Del Grosso, Garibaldi. Orizzonti Mediterranei [Garibaldi. Mediterranean horizons], Paolo Sorba Editore, 2010 • Anna Tola, Il giornale di bordo del capitano Garibaldi [Captain Garibaldi’s Logbook], Paolo Sorba Editore, 2011 • Achille Corea, Roma senza vie di mezzo [Roma without compromises], Pendragon, 2010 • Paolo Melissi, Milano senza vie di mezzo [Milano without compromises], Pendragon, 2010 • Marianna Martino, Torino senza vie di mezzo [Torino without compromises], Pendragon, 2011 • Cristiana Danila Formetta, Sesso senza vie di mezzo [Sex without compromises], Pendragon, 2011
30
RIGHTS LIST LAURANA EDITORE
HIGH LIGHTS
(Wedding Letters)
“Page after page, we reach the core of a painful tale about life and death, and the more we read, the more this book proves to be sublime. Lolli writes his letters daily, signing them with assorted obscenities and the words ‘With Love’”. Davide Turrini, «Il Fatto Quotidiano»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 224 · RELEASE DATE: JAN 2016 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Claudio Lolli Lettere matrimoniali
In a world full of stories without love and love without story, this is a book about love in our History. Poet and singer-songwriter, Claudio Lolli writes letters to his wife. His words travel from the deepest intimacy to a bigger scenery, until they reach the whole world. With a subtle plot made of thoughts and memories filled with incredible delicacy, this is a book of love that takes its readers by the hand to lead them through the last forty years of our History. We walk with him in cities, hills and countrysides, just as we do through Lolli’ songs, reaching what’s hidden inside all of us to find clear glimpses of poetry, individual and collective emotions, rebellion and memory. This is more than just a book: it’s a love ballad. An authentic, sincere, indecent and devastating ballad. With his collection of letters, email and chat logs, Lolli recalls Freud and Bukowski, embracing all the shades of a love story. Claudio Lolli (Bologna 1950) is a singer-songwriter, poet and writer. With more than 15 records in his career, Lolli in one of the most prolific and political Italian singers. He published seven novels.
32
HIGH LIGHTS
(Devourig Milan. A novel in the times of Expo)
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 160 · RELEASE DATE: APR 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Gabriele Dadati, Marco Drago, Lucia T. Ingrosso, Pierfrancesco Majorino DIVORARE MILANO UN romanzo AI TEMPI DELL’EXPO
Four Laurana authors get together to write an eight-handed novel that is both the synthesis of a friendship and a true piece of work, ready to be loved by the readers. The authors tell their story keeping Expo in the background, a big event that generates by itself unrivaled narrations, potentially bigger than any other invention. Through the lens of Expo they want to take a deeper look to the contemporary Milan. This is the idea: powerful people from all over the world need to secretly gather together to better govern their people. While in public they fake some rivalries, behind the scene they are conspiring to rule our future. But how can Obama, Pope Francis, Zuckerberg and Bono Vox, Merkel, Putin and the others meet away from curious eyes? If all of them disappeared on the very same day, people would notice. That is the reason why they use big events as covers. On 2nd may 2015, after the inauguration of Expo, the powerful ones are in Milan and crawl in the Repubblica Metro station to weave their plots. All would go well if the air conditioning system did not break and they did not find themselves forced to go back on ground level. That’s the beginning of a very long day which blends common people’s destinies to those of the powerful ones. Devouring Milan is a novel made of stories and eccentric getaways from the main plot, which is never forgotten to be told; it is a rather enjoyable novel where you may find some truth hidden between lightness and jokes. You will see the beating heart of Milan painted with the words of four authors that are living part of the Laurana Editore cultural project.
GABRIELE DADATI has published with Laurana Small testament (2011), presented at Premio Strega by Gherardo Colombo and Romano Montroni. MARCO DRAGO manages the digital series Laurana Reloaded, in which he republishes the best italian narrative fiction from the 90’s until today, enriched with unpublished works. LUCIA TILDE INGROSSO is the creator of police inspector Sebastiano Rizzo, whose new adventure is told in Ghosts never die (Laurana, 2015). PIERFRANCESCO MAJORINO has joined the Lau-
rana catalogue with his last novel, My cursed love (2014).
33
HIGH LIGHTS
(Criminal Palermo. The great novel of a city)
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: CRIME SHORT STORIES · PAGES: 273 · RELEASE DATE: OCT 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Edited by Antonio Pagliaro Palermo criminale Il grande romanzo della città
2004, Sicily. Palermo’s football club flies to the top league, led by Toni’s goals and Corini’s genius. Meanwhile, dramatic events occur in the city, tied together by a sentence anonymously written on a wall in Via Resuttana: “We were infinity, now we are the past”. Murders and missing people; men and women that have to deal with their secrets; crashes that disrupt lives; serial killers that only kill writers and Saint Rosalia Day which turns into a blood bath… Finally, we will discover a city in which the Mafia rules without firing and dangerous adulteries take place. A city that wears its team colours, pink and black, despite its darkest heart. In twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, the twelve authors make up the novel of Palermo: a choral, sad account of how life is in its neighborhoods. The authors take on a hard literary challenge and they achieve the purpose: to build a huge, coherent puzzle of this fascinating and suffering land. A vivid, sharp picture of a reality in which crime is normality.
The authors: Ugo Barbàra, Irene Chias, Domenico Conoscenti, Giorgio D’Amato, Nicolò La Rocca, Alessandro Locatelli, Mauro Mirci, Antonio Pagliaro, Gery Palazzotto, Gaetano Savatteri, Salvo Toscano, Nino Vetri.
The editor Antonio Pagliaro (Palermo, 1968) published the novels: Il sangue degli altri (Sironi, 2007), I cani di via Lincoln (Laurana, 2010), La notte del gatto nero (Guanda, 2012) and Il giapponese cannibale (Senzapatria, 2010). His website is: www.antoniopagliaro.com
34
HIGH LIGHTS
(The dogs of Lincoln Street)
Republished ON January 2014 in the series “Noir Italia” of «il Sole 24 ORE», on newsstands with the newspaper. “Pagliaro’s characters are close to perfection”. «La Repubblica» “One of the most original voices in genre fiction”. «La Sicilia» “A compelling novel written in a fluent prose style”. «Libri e Recensioni»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: CRIME NOVEL · PAGES: 273 · RELEASE DATE: NOV 2010 / JAN 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Antonio Pagliaro I CANI DI VIA LINCOLN
I cani di via Lincoln (The dogs of Lincoln Street) is set in present-day Palermo. The book opens with the discovery of eight bodies riddled with bullets in a Chinese restaurant called Grande Pechino. Six of the victims are Chinese; one is an Italian journalist, and the eighth body is disfigured and cannot be identified. The only survivor, a woman, is in a coma. In a city where crooked politicians are in cahoots with organized crime and corrupt freemasons, the massacre of Lincoln Street breaks a fragile truce, leading to an investigation that may shed light on some uncomfortable truths. While the Sicilian Mafia Commission (Cupola) is planning a second massacre, lieutenant Cascioferro suddenly finds out what the journalist was investigating at the time of his murder: a gruesome discovery awaits the officer in the basement of the Chinese restaurant. Why reading I cani di via Lincoln then? Featuring an unforgettable gallery of characters and driven by a relentless narrative energy, the book explores the relationship between Cosa Nostra and the Chinese mafia in a city, Palermo, where farce and tragedy, love and melancholia are inextricably tied together.
Antonio Pagliaro (Palermo, 1968) is the author of Il sangue degli altri (The blood of others) (Sironi, 2007) and most recently, La notte del gatto nero (The night of the black cat) (Guanda, 2012). He writes for several newspapers, including «Liberazione» and «La Repubblica», and for «21» magazine, where he pens the column “Peñarol, il giallo e il nero”. 35
HIGH LIGHTS
Fausto Vitaliano LORENZO SEGRETO “The main character of Vitaliano’s novel is an aspiration: to discover the secret reason why we were born”. «Glamour» “Lorenzo Segreto is a book about restitution: of meanings, words, feelings, stories, memory”. «Finzioni Magazine»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 320 · RELEASE DATE: APR 2014 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
(Lorenzo Segreto)
With this novel, Fausto Vitaliano, one of the best Italian comic scriptwriters, confirms himself as a talented author in literary fiction. There must be a reason why we were born. This is the question that tormented Lorenzo Segreto since he was a little child, sitting on the grass with his brother Valter. They lived in an area that has been devastated by oil rigs, but the soil returned only human carcasses and unexploded bombs. The brothers are alone: their father abandoned them, their mother has lost her mind and their grandfather was persecuted and chased away. Valter is lame, and perhaps this was the reason why he became a fascist. Lorenzo feels that he has to leave that place. So he goes away, first in London, then in Milan. Now he works successfully in the world of finance, for Crediback. Moreover, he met Adriana, as beatiful as a goddess. But that old question keep bothering him all the same: why am I in the world? The answer will arrive from afar, from a place without a name and from a war that nobody wants to remember. Yes, because in Milan, in A.D. 2000, they are fighting: a war without bombs but as devastating as any war is. And there is still another thing to unravel: who’s the storyteller?
Fausto Vitaliano (1962) is a comic scriptwriter for Disney, Bonelli, Panini and others. He published Era solo una promessa, his first novel, (Laurana, 2012) and Sex Pistols. La più sincera delle truffe (Laurana, 2013).
36
BACK LIST
Gabriele Dadati Piccolo testamento (Small testament)
(sponsored by Gherardo Colombo and Romano Montroni)
“A brave book, bold and daring”. «Il Manifesto» “The intensity of writing, the pleasure of introspection, the attention to detail”. «Panorama» “A conscious style that is a miracle of simplicity”. «Rolling Stone»
F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: NOVEL · PAGES: 128 · RELEASE DATE: SEP 2011 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Shortlisted for the Strega Award 2012
Taking place over the course of a night in June, Piccolo testamento tells the story of a young man who has not turn 30 yet. Unable to sleep because of the sultry heat, he gets out of bed and starts wandering around his house. The sparsely furnished rooms are soon filled with memories and from the shadows of the past rises Vittorio, a rigorous yet lovable intellectual in his fifties who died a month before. Vittorio was a master, almost an adoptive father for the young protagonist; little by little, we trace the stages of their uncommon friendship and Vittorio’s deadly illness. This novel talks about an “intellectual initiation”, but it also investigates the more general need to establish a dialogue with those who we recognise to be on “our side”. Having to come to terms with Vittorio’s death and dealing with the end of his relationship with Marta, the girl he loves, the protagonist feels out of place, almost out of this world, as if he spoke a language that nobody can understand. Why reading Piccolo testamento then? Basically, because it concerns an intimate story with a distinguishable social significance. Set in the narrow confines of a house over the course of a night and focusing on a single character, the novel proves to be a masterpiece of narrative virtuosity, exploring the psychology of its young protagonist in a clear and neat style. Gabriele Dadati (Piacenza, 1982) is the author of Sorvegliato dai fantasmi (Guarded by ghosts; peQuod, 2006; Barbera, 2008), awarded the Dante Graziosi Prize and shortlisted for Fahrenheit Radio 3 RAI’s book of the year, and Il libro nero del mondo (The black book of the world; Gaffi, 2009). In 2009 Dadati represented Italy at Scritturegiovani (Young-writing), Festivaletteratura (Literature-fest), Mantua. 37
BACK LIST
Other titles in fiction SERIES: • Pierfrancesco Majorino, Maledetto amore mio (Damned Love of
Mine), 2014 • Paolo Grugni, La geografia delle piogge (Geography of Rains), 2013 • Flavio Villani, L’ordine di Babele (The Order of Babel), 2013 • Giuseppe Sforza, Inseguendo Gauguin [Chasing Gauguin], 2013 • Daniela Brancati, Il coyote liberò le stelle [The coyote released the
[email protected]
F I C T I O N
stars], 2013 • Fausto Vitaliano, Era solo una promessa (It was only a promise),
2012 • Fabio Calenda, Rosso totale [Total red], 2012 • Paolo Grugni, L’odore acido di quei giorni (The sour smell of those
days), 2011 • Gianfranco Di Fiore, La notte dei petali bianchi [The night of the
white petals], 2011 • Michele Vaccari, L’onnipotente [The Almighty], 2011 • Massimo Cassani, Un po’ più lontano [A little more distant], 2010
38
HIGH LIGHTS
Vita, sorte e miracoli di artisti esemplari (Out of Sight. Life, fortune and quintessential artists)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: BIOGRAPHIES · PAGES: 182 · RELEASE DATE: APR 2015 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Enzo Gentile LONTANI DAGLI OCCHI
miracles of
«It’s not a chance if the ones who can paint, in three or four minutes, a moment which will stick on you for the rest of your days. But then you look closer, you fathom through the lines and you understand that all personal stories have a very different importance from the motifs you memorized, an importance thanks to which you loved those poets through time: you can imagine them as a tangle of stories, a sort of urban agglomerate crammed with dark zones and hidden corners which you crave to explore and enlighten, because you know now more than ever that “they are not mere jingles”».
The big age of Italian music has its roots in the years from the late ‘50s to the half of the ‘70. Here we recollect unforgotten and unforgettable songs that still make shine the artists who created them. Five of these artists are bound together by a dark and secret destiny. Fred Buscaglione, Piero Ciampi, Sergio Endrigo, Nino Ferrer, Herbert Pagani, on different levels, have known both fame and success and the shadows of decline and a progressive removal from the important scene. The triumphs on TV, the critic’s favour, the public’s approval have been stopped by the thin evil of depression and doubt. Retracing their lives means giving back some merits that have risked to fade away.
ENZO GENTILE (Milan, 1955), journalist and musical historian, university professor, has written for more than one hundred newspapers and magazines. He has produced a dozen books, curated many exhibitions and conducted both radio and TV shows. He keeps doing all of this.
39
BACK LIST
(10 good reasons to be Catholic)
“The authors start again from the Bible to draw up a decalogue about the pride of being catholic, today”. «Famiglia Cristiana»
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: RELIGION · PAGES: 144 · RELEASE DATE: JUN 2011 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Valter Binaghi - Giulio Mozzi 10 buoni motivi per essere cattolici
“A narrative tecnique and a literary prose keeping semplicity”. «Libertà» In our times nobody really knows what Christianity is. The story of Jesus is known for what we have been told as children and for how it is reported by television. There are numerous churches in every city. At Christmas and Easter, you are home from work, you celebrate and maybe go to church as well. But we are not aware of what Christianity is and what is written in that big book, the Bible. Its stories are more beautiful than those of the New Age and the imaginary coming out from it concerns us since many centuries. That’s why Valter Binaghi and Giulio Mozzi, two excellent writers, have written 10 buoni motivi per essere cattolici. And that is what we can expect behind a so provocative title: contents slipped one’s mind and a reflection about how these contents deal with us. Because we, perhaps, have a role in this great, troubled story of love, the Christianity, between the Creator and His creatures. Why is it worth reading 10 buoni motivi per essere cattolici? Because it tells us something we need to know, whether we are believers or not. Because it is a courageous act by the two authors, who gladly make available to all what is at the centre of their private lives. Because it is written in a prose able to be beautiful and literary. Valter Binaghi was born in 1957. He teaches philosophy and history at a high school in the province of Milan, where he lives with his wife and two sons. He published Robinia Blues (Flaccovio 2004), La porta degli innocenti (The door of the Lambs; Flaccovio 2005), I tre giorni all’inferno di Enrico Bonetti cronista padano (Three Days of Hell of Enrico Bonetti reporter from the Po valley; Sironi 2007), Devoti a Babele (Devotees at Babel; Perdisa Pop 2008) and other novels. Giulio Mozzi was born in 1960. He has published six collections of short stories, one of which, Il male naturale (The natural evil; Mondadori 1997) was newly published by Laurana Editore in January 2011. The pamphlet Corpo morto e corpo vivo. Eluana Englaro e Silvio Berlusconi (Dead body and alive body. Eluana Englaro and Silvio Berlusconi) (Transeuropea) was published in 2009.
40
BACK LIST
(10 good reasons not to start a diet)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: LIFESTYLE · PAGES: 144 · RELEASE DATE: JUN 2012 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Martina Liverani 10 ottimi motivi per non cominciare una dieta
“Martina Liverani teaches us to come to terms with our own figure”. «Elle» “Martina Liverani’s book is a real page-turner”. «Il Fatto Quotidiano» “Entertaining and honest, it’s more than a mere handbook”. «Il Cittadino»
If being on a diet makes your life miserable and hopeless, if you are proud of your curves and a size 0 does not match your standard of beauty, then this book was written for you. Martina Liverani offers ten good reasons why you should not deprive your body (and mind) of the pleasures of food to become someone you are not and never will be. Debunking the myth of perfection that persists in modern day societies, 10 ottimi motivi per non cominciare una dieta reminds us that the secret of true beauty (and thus, true happiness) is being proud of who we are and coming to terms with our own imperfections. Written in a witty and engaging style, and offering an affectionate insight into the female universe, 10 ottimi motivi per non cominciare una dieta puts your well-being and health before your figure, while delivering a sharp critique of the “diet craze” that encourages women to hate themselves and compromise their health. A lover of good food and wine who prefers cooking to working out in a gym, Martina Liverani (Faenza, 1977) has contributed to Curvy on Vogue.it and“Thinking Curvy” on «Vogue» magazine since February 2010. A regular contributor to «Casaviva», «Sale e Pepe» e Style.it, since March 2011 Liverani has penned curvyfoodiehungry.it, dubbed“a blog for happy women”. 41
BACK LIST
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: LIFESTYLE · PAGES: 144 · RELEASE DATE: JAN 2013 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Irene Vella CREDEVO FOSSE UN’AMICA E INVECE ERA NA STRONZA (10 MODI PER SOPRAVVIVERE ALLE STRONZAMICHE)
[I thought she was a friend but instead she was an asshole (10 ways to survive to asshole-friends)] “This book teaches how to recognize the asshole-friends, to defend oneself from them and laugh about it”. «Donna Moderna» “It may safely be called a manual of self-defense”. «Grazia» “There are mistakes that can destroy self-esteem. For example, choosing the wrong friend”. «Gioia» Friendship is precious. But at the same time it is rare, like all precious things. The problem is that, among few real friends, the fake ones are hiding as well the ones who pretend to be friends but then make war to you. In particular, among girl-friends there are hidden asshole-friends much more insidious than male-friends. Every woman knows that. They are smiling in front of you while gossiping in your absence. They are close to you and at the same time they are aiming at your boyfriend. While you are pregnant they take care of you but they still fill you with fear... In addition, asshole-friends show themselves at every time of a woman’s life. They are already present from elementary school up to the hospice. Irene Vella wrote his new book teaching you to single out asshole-friends immediately and telling also you how to defend yourself from them. Why is it worthwhile reading Credevo fosse un’amica e invece era una stronza? Because it is both a useful and fun tool. The book says what has to be said, but with a smile. Because it is another book written by a woman for women. Because if you liked The No Asshole Rule , well, you know that’s not enough. The bastards Robert Sutton was talking about are only those of the working places. But outside there is all the rest of life. Irene Vella (Massa Marittima, 1970) works as a correspondent to “Cristina Parodi Live” broadcasting on LA7 and collaborates with many high-circulation magazines, from «Visto» to «Tu Style». Among her last books Sex & the cake Malvarosa 2011).
42
BACK LIST
(10 Italians who have conquered the world)
N O N - F I C T I O N
[email protected]
GENRE: ESSAY · PAGES: 144 · RELEASE DATE: NOVE 2011 · LANGUAGE: ITALIAN · RIGHTS: WORLD
Simone Marcuzzi 10 italiani che hanno conquistato il mondo
“Marcuzzi talks successfully about a difficult and thorny subject.” «Rockit» “Entertaining, funny, well-written: a book to discover some facts about Italian greatness.” «Realtà Industriale»
What do Pinocchio, Luciano Pavarotti, Dante, Rita Levi Montalcini, Enzo Ferrari, Giorgio Armani, Moana Pozzi, Leonardo da Vinci, Sergio Leone and Juri Chechi have in common with each other? Whether or not they are alive, imaginary or real, humanists or scientists, they are Italian and they are famous all over the world. These days, Italy seems to struggle keeping up, and its international image is beyond negative. That is why there is a need to remember that exists a good and beautiful Italy of which we can all be proud of. Because Italy is Umberto Eco, Maria Montessori, Federico Fellini, Carla Fracci, Anna Magnani, Renzo Piano, Eleonora Duse, Luciano Berio, Antonio Canova, Cristoforo Colombo and many, many more…
Simone Marcuzzi (Pordenone, 1981) published a collection of short stories, Cosa faccio quando vengo scaricato e altre storie d’amore crudele (What I do when I get dumped and other cruel stories) (Zandegù, 2006) and a novel Vorrei star fermo mentre il mondo va (I’d like to stand still while the world spins) (Mondadori, 2010), awarded the Zocca Giovani Prize in 2011. He is part of the organization of Pordenonelegge Festival.
43
BACK LIST
Other titles in NON-fiction SERIES:
[email protected]
N O N - F I C T I O N
• Alberto Marcheselli, Fisco Inferno. 10 motivi per (non) pagare le
tasse [Revenue Hell. 10 reasons to (not) pay taxes], 2013 • Michele Monina, 10 modi per diventare un mito (e fare un sacco di
soldi) [10 ways to become a legend (and make a lot of money)], 2012 • Andrea Pomella, 10 modi per imparare a essere poveri ma felici [10
ways to learn how to be poor and happy], 2012 • Marina Calderone, 10 idee per il lavoro dei nostri figli [10 ideas for
our sons’ jobs], 2012 • Giuseppe Civati, 10 cose buone per l’Italia che la Sinistra deve fare
subito [10 good things about Italy that the Left must do now], 2012 • Isabella Marchiolo, 10 grandi donne dietro 10 grandi uomini [10
great women behind 10 great men], 2011 • Simone Marcuzzi, 10 italiani che hanno conquistato il mondo [10
Italians who have conquered the world], 2011 • Daniela Gambino, 10 gay che salvano l’Italia oggi [10 gay men who
saved Italy at this time], 2011
44
Decibel is a book series by Laurana Editore dedicated to singers and groups that make our lives worth living. It begins with Jovanotti! Un ragazzo fortunato dal rap a San Siro (Jovanotti! One lucky guy from rap to San Siro), written by Michael Monina, a book that celebrates the life and 25-year career of an artist whose success has spanned overseas even to the United States.
[email protected]
M U S I C
The second title in the series is the Sex Pistols. La più sincera delle truffe (Sex Pistols. The most honest of all scams), written by Fausto Vitaliano: chaos, anarchy, drugs and money. But above all, the truest music in the world: it raged briefly, but Punk changed everything. The series also includes the biographies of two of the greatest Italian rock singers of all time: Ligabue. Questa è la mia vita (Ligabue. This is my life) by Eleanor Bagarotti and Vasco. La biografia definitiva (Vasco Rossi. The definitive biography) by Michele Monina. The last works released are: Laura Pausini. La biografia (Laura Pausini. The biography) by Michele Monina and Cristina d’Avena. 50 anni di sogni (Cristina d’Avena. 50 years of dream), a collection of short stories edited by Gabriele Dadati.
45
[email protected]
G U I D E S
What do we know about Europe, its people, its dynamics and horizons? True to the idea that literature should help us to better understand the world we live in, Laurana Editore has launched Europes – the title is intentionally plural – a series of travel guides, part-reportage, partguide, providing a comprehensive insight into the history and culture of twelve of the most important European cities. Written over a year by a professional writer, Michele Monina, Europes revives the tradition of the Grand Tour while representing an unparalleled literary tour de force; book after book, this series takes the reader on a trail of discovery through the many faces of Europe. With chapters dedicated to the many sides of the cities, each guide proves to be the best companion to travel alongside you and live your experience to the fullest. The books: • Atene è un sogno (Athen is a dream) • Londra è un orologio (London is a clock) • Barcellona ti sorride (Barcelona smiles at you) • Lisbona è tutta luce (Lisbon is bathed in light) • Amsterdam è un’isola (Amsterdam is an island) • Berlino non ha muri (Berlin has no walls) • Parigi è un lungo tramonto (Paris is a long sunset) • Vienna è un giro in carrozza (Vienna is a carriage ride) • Praga di incanti e di spettri (The charm and ghosts of Prague) • Budapest senza il Danubio (Budapest without the Danube) • Istanbul è un ponte tra i monti (Istanbul is a bridge in the mountains) • Stoccolma vi rapirà (Stockholm will ravish you) Michele Monina (Ancona, 1969) is the author of several biographies. A contributor to magazines such as «Rolling Stone», «GQ» and «Marie Claire», Monina has worked for MTV and translated books by Lou Reed, Eminem, Palahniuk and Nick Cave. His 10 modi per diventare un mito (e fare un sacco di soldi) [10 ways to become a legend (and make lots of money)] is also published by Laurana Editore.
46
