Wind Shift - Hardcover

De Carlo, Andrea

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0847828816 ISBN 13: 9780847828814

Publisher: Rizzoli, 2006

Synopsis

Two men and two women—successful Milanese professionals and lifelong friends—set off on an urbane mission from Milan with their estate agent, determined to discover Umbrian properties to buy and renovate into luxurious country homes. But as darkness descends and the roads become narrower, the travelers' concentration wanes, and they find themselves lost, their car in a ditch, and their cell phones without coverage, in the Umbrian rain. From these simple but ominous beginnings, De Carlo's novel grows into a broad, ambitious, and unsettling exploration of modern urban values. When they fall into the hands of an aggressive agri-naturist community, perspectives shift between the five protagonists as a tense series of events forces the characters to reevaluate every principle, belief, and thought they have ever held to be true. A jaunt into the Italian countryside becomes a harrowing journey into the soul.

About this title

About the Author

Andrea De Carlo was born and grew up in Milan, Italy.
After graduating from the State University of Milan with a degree in modern literature, he traveled extensively in the United States, Europe and Australia.
In 1981 Einaudi published his first novel, Treno di Panna ("Creamtrain"), for which Italo Calvino wrote an introduction. A movie adapted from the book would later be produced.
His second novel, "Uccelli da gabbia e da voliera" ("Cage and Aviary Birds"), published in the spring of 1982, was praised by legendary film director Federico Fellini, who offered De Carlo the chance to work as his assistant director.
Andrea De Carlo has written a total of seventeen novels: "Treno di panna" (Creamtrain), "Uccelli da gabbia e da voliera" ("Cage and Aviary Birds"), "Macno", "Yucatan", "Due di due" (Two Out of Two"), "Tecniche di seduzione" ("Techniques of Seduction"), "Arcodamore", "Uto", "Di noi tre", "Nel momento", "Pura vita", "I veri nomi", "Giro di vento" (Windshift"), "Mare delle verità" ("Sea of Truth"), "Durante", "Leielui" ("She and He") and "Villa Metaphora".
His novels have been translated into 26 languages.

From Publishers Weekly

In bestselling Italian author De Carlo's English language debut, four high-powered old friends-sensitive and conflicted editor Luisa; her uptight architect husband Enrico; Arturo, a hearty and practical designer; and Margherita, a mercurial talk-show host-embark from Milan on a weekend trip to rural Umbria. With their comically preening real estate agent Alessio, they are looking for a retreat from their frenetic urban lives (as well as an investment opportunity). But when their car breaks down, their cell phones get no signal, and a storm hits, they find themselves seeking shelter with a singularly uninviting group of people: a commune of squatters in the very houses they sought to buy, the settlement known as Windshift. Led by the charismatic Lauro, the settlers have rejected contemporary society and live a pre-modern, off-the-grid existence. As hours stretch into days, the five urbanites respond to their hosts in radically different ways, and suppressed rage and hidden desires explode in a series of confrontations. It's a schematic set-up, but De Carlo's finely tuned characterizations bring his heinously egocentric characters into vivid focus. De Carlo creates real drama in taking imperfect but self-aware people out of their element. Cell phones take a bashing, too.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Rizzoli
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0847828816
• ISBN 13: 9780847828814
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 328