I listened to this book through Audible, on a few long haul flights but didn't really get the depth of it until I went back and listened again, filling in bits I'd missed. It's actually full of insights into life in a poor town in Italy, but it's a bit slow and didn't grab me on the first listen. ...
http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2011/10/poisonville-by-massimo-carlotto-and.html
Wow. Swimming to Elba was such a disheartening book. Incredibly well done, but a difficult read.This novel deals with so many overwhelming themes: poverty, drugs, sex, abuse. Whenever I thought some hope may be on the horizon, that hope was dashed. I felt compelled to read on and on, but I had a kno...
This book explores the transition from adolescence to adulthood in a gritty and emotional way. This transition is never easy, but it's especially hard for Anna and Francesca. They live in a poverty stricken town next to a dying steel mill.In Piombino, drug addiction is prevalent, abuse is frequent, ...
A Pimp's Notes contains the classic murky veil of noir, but in this case, there is not a traditional lead detective, but rather features, Bravo, the castrated pimp who is forced to unravel his own mystery. Where some readers might find Faletti's approach lethargic for a suspense novel, I'd argue tha...
Swimming to Elba by Silvia AvalloneISBN: 9780670023585 Difficult to find translations for the Italian phrases but you can get the gist of what's being said. This takes place in an Italian city. The slums, housing projects and the beach the children swim in is full of sewer. All the people that li...
I picked up Swimming to Elba by Silvia Avallone (trans. by Antony Shuggar) because I read somewhere that everyone in Europe was raving about it and there were only 2 holds ahead of me at the library for it (and I am an incessant hoarder of library books, which I have mentioned elsewhere, so when I s...
Rating: 2* of fiveThe Book Report: Childhood in poverty-stricken Calabrian town. Son of a father who works in the coal mines of northern France. Half-brother of a Child of Shame his father brings home. Boy to a dog of noble heart, who survives a wild boar attack.Oh save me please from this childhoo...
NO SPOILERS!!!I am having a hard time deciding whether to give this four of five stars..... It was truly lovely. You walk away from the book happy b/c you have met some really kind, nice, compassionate and yet perfectly NORMAL people. The story is soothing. You spend all of your time chuckling. I wi...
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