Italian Literature Book Group for May-June

The focus of the book group is fiction and non-fiction; books written by Italian authors (in translation); books written by any author, set in Italy, and books about Italy. It’s a large set, but one book generally leads in the direction of the next, so we won’t feel discombobulated. The moderator of the book club is Connie Bertuca, former high school English teacher, lover of books and Italian travel, and perpetual Italian 2 student.

 📚 The May-June 2022 Book Selection  — Trick, by Domenico Starnone

Trick is a stylish drama about ambition, family, and old-age that goes beyond the ordinary and predictable. Imagine a duel between two men. One, Daniele Mallarico, is a successful illustrator who, in the twilight of his years, feels that his reputation and his artistic prowess are fading. The other, Mario, is Daniele's four-year-old grandson. Daniele has been living in a cold northern city for years, in virtual solitude, focusing obsessively on his work, when his daughter asks if he would come to Naples for a few days and babysit Mario while she and her husband attend a conference. Shut inside his childhood home―an apartment in the center of Naples that is filled with the ghosts of Mallarico's past―grandfather and grandson match wits as Daniele heads toward a reckoning with his own ambitions and life choices.

Outside the apartment, pulses Naples, a wily, violent, and passionate city whose influence can never be shaken.

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*the size of the group is limited to 10 members.  If you are not yet a paid member of Dante, sign-up here.  Now that we are beginning to meet in-person at someone's home (outside), everyone participating must be fully-vaccinated.