I'll Steal You Away - Softcover

Ammaniti, Niccolò

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841959456 ISBN 13: 9781841959450

Publisher: Canongate U.S., 2007

Synopsis

Italian literary superstar Niccolò Ammaniti’s debut novel, I’m Not Scared, prompted gushing praise, hit international best-seller lists, and was made into a smash indie film. With his highly anticipated follow-up, Ammaniti takes his unparalleled empathy for children, his scythe-sharp observations, and his knack for building tension to a whole new level. In a tiny Italian village, a young boy named Pietro is growing up tormented by bullies and ignored by his parents. When an aging playboy, Graziano Biglia, returns to town, a change is in the air: Pietro decides to take on the bullies, his lonely teacher Flora finds romance with the town’s prodigal son, and the inept janitor at the school proclaims his love for his favorite prostitute. But the village isn’t ready for such change, and when Graziano seduces and forgets Flora, both she and Pietro’s tentative hopes seem crushed forever. With great tenderness, Ammaniti shines light on the heart-wrenching failures and quiet redemptions of ordinary people trying to live extraordinary lives. I’ll Steal You Away is a fresh and classic story of a boy learning to be a man that delivers on the promise of Ammaniti’s acclaimed debut.

About this title

About the Author

NICCOL? AMMANITI was born in Rome in 1966. He has written three novels and a collection of short stories. His first novel, I ll Steal you Away, was longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. He won the prestigious Italian Viareggio- R?paci Literary Prize for Fiction for his bestselling novel I m Not Scared, which has been translated into thirty-five languages. As God Commands received the Premio Strega Prize in 2007. Visit him online at www.niccoloammaniti.it/eng.

From Publishers Weekly

Ammaniti, author of novel-turned-film I'm Not Scared (2003), offers another tale of smalltown southern Italy, this time juxtaposing the growing pains of 12-year-old Pietro Moroni, a "small for his age" kid frequently targeted by bullies, with the romantic prowling of Graziano Biglia, a washed-up flamenco guitarist who returns to his hometown after having his heart broken by a stripper. The novel, narrated in a quasi call-and-response ("His life is sex, drugs and... flamenco. But what's wrong with that? Sure, many people would hate a life like mine. Drifting. Rootless. But I like it") feels awkward at first, but once the reader settles in, Hunt's translation adds welcome depth to seemingly simple folk: Pietro, hungry for social acceptance, gets tricked into vandalizing his school and must suffer the consequences; Graziano, forever scheming an entrée to the big time, loves and leaves skittish schoolteacher Flora Palmieri. Flora, burdened with caring for her sick mother and ill-equipped to deal with the intense fallout from her relationship with Graziano, quickly falls apart once her seducer disappears. Chilling and intimate, Ammaniti's work brings life to a deceptively quiet town and its wealth of eclectic and unsettling residents. (Sept.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Canongate U.S.
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1841959456
• ISBN 13: 9781841959450
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 416