New Releases by Niccolo Ammaniti

Traducere și note de Gabriela Lungu Glisând între dramă psihologică și satiră socială, sinuos și seducător, cel mai recent roman al lui Niccolò Ammaniti, Viața intimă, explorează temerile și dorințele profunde ale unei femei, propunându-ne să privim cu empatie lumea derutantă și provocatoare de astăzi. Maria Cristina Palma duce o viață aparent perfectă. Considerată cea mai frumoasă femeie din lume, este căsătorită cu prim-ministrul Italiei, are o fiică minunată și tot ce își poate dori. Imaginea ei construită cu grijă ascunde însă un trecut traumatic și o criză de identitate incipientă, iar proiecțiile celor din jur asupra sa o însingurează. Până când, în urma unei întâlniri neașteptate, primește pe mobil un film erotic care i-ar putea distruge reputația. E nevoită să ia o decizie dramatică, să aleagă ce e dispusă să sacrifice și cu ce preț. Ajuns în acest punct, romanul pune întrebări esențiale pentru cititor: Nu cumva ar trebui să ne temem mai mult de propria privire decât de a celorlalți? Cât de departe suntem în stare să mergem în dorința noastră de apartenență și afecțiune?

Maria Cristina Palma, ex top model et épouse du Président du Conseil italien, vient d’être élue « plus belle femme du monde ». Une nouvelle embarrassante pour celle qui aime se tenir en retrait de la vie publique. Sauf, bien sûr, lorsque le social media manager du gouvernement décide de la mettre en scène pour démentir des rumeurs d’adultère ou charmer l’assistance. Cette Jacky Kennedy des temps modernes, tantôt rebaptisée « Maria Tristina » en référence aux deuils qu’elle a dû traverser, tantôt raillée en « Maria Cretina », s’ennuie. Lors d’une soirée, elle rencontre par hasard une ancienne connaissance, Nicola Sarti. Ils décident de se revoir. Il lui parle de leur jeunesse, lui envoie des photos. Puis, une vidéo compromettante dont elle n’a aucun souvenir. Pourtant c’est bien d’elle et Nicola dont il s’agit. Le sol se dérobe sous ses pieds. Que cherche cet homme qu’elle a perdu de vue après une croisière au large des îles éoliennes pendant laquelle ils se sont brièvement aimés ? Alors qu’elle a accepté de donner sa première interview en direct à la télévision, elle va devoir se débarrasser de ces images qui pourraient avoir des conséquences dévastatrices pour elle et son mari. Comédie de mœurs au rythme étourdissant et à l’ironie parfaitement dosée, ce roman explore l’insignifiance et la vacuité du rôle de première dame au temps des réseaux sociaux tout puissants. La vie intime signe le grand retour au roman de Niccolò Ammaniti et entraîne le lecteur dans une Rome somptueuse, mais un brin décadente, celle de La Grande Bellezza de Paolo Sorrentino. Traduit de l’italien par Myriem Bouzaher

It is some years since a virus killed all the adults. Now Sicily lies in ruins while the disease lies in wait, poised to claim the children as they reach adolescence. Brave, stubborn thirteen-year-old Anna looks after her brother Astor in the cottage where their mother’s skeleton rests, lovingly decorated, in a locked bedroom. She tells him fearsome stories about monsters, hoping to keep him safe at home while she forages among the real hazards. Wild dogs. Gangs of savage, blue-painted kids. But then Astor starts to question Anna’s version of the world, just as the blue kids are turning their attention to the cottage-and suddenly, everything will change.

One relentlessly hot summer, six children explore the scorched wheat fields that enclose their tiny Italian village. When the gang find a dilapidated farmhouse, nine-year-old Michele Amitrano makes a discovery so momentous that he dare not tell a soul. It is a secret that will force Michele to question everything and everyone around him, and will bring his innocent world toppling down. An unputdownable thriller, I''m Not Scared has become a contemporary classic in Italian literature, read and celebrated the world over.

IschianoScalo, a village of four houses next to a mosquito-infested swamp, is the place in which two tempestuous love stories are told. One of them is betweenthe young Pietro and Gloria:she is the daughter of a bank manager, he is the son of a psychopathic priest; she is beautiful, sure of herself and a Little arrogant; he is irresolute, a dreamer. But, despite their differences, a strange feeling, which has a curious resemblance to love, emerges between them. The other story is that of GrazianoBiglia, a playboy who''s seen better days, and who has now returned to the village after many years where he falls in love with Flora, a lonely and mysterious woman who everyone in the village avoids.

‘How long’s it been since we took the bloody oath?’ Saverio shrugged. ‘A few years.’ Zombie pointed a grissino at his chief. ‘In all this time, what have we ever accomplished?’ ‘All those things you promised...How many of them have we done?’ Murder chimed in. ‘You said we’d make loads of human sacrifices, but we haven’t seen hide nor hair of them. And what about the initiation ritual with the virgins? And the Satanic orgies?’ It is the most decadent party of the century. A nouveau riche real estate magnate has planned a lavish weekend for a who’s-who of celebrities—starlets, politicians, soccer stars and intellectuals. Among them is a neurotically charming author struggling to write his next book and hoping to rejuvenate his reputation. In an unexpected turn of events, he crosses paths with the Wilde Beasts of Abaddon, a satanic sect planning to ruin the evening’s festivities and become celebrated as a world-famous cult. What was intended as the most lavish spectacle of the year quickly descends into chaos. Let the Games Begin, international best-selling author Niccolò Ammaniti fuses a riotous dose of absurdity with a clear-eyed critique of the superficiality and vulgarity of modern culture. Let the Games Begin may well be, as Italian left-wing daily L''Unità remarked, ‘the print version of La Dolce Vita for the present day.’

Niccolo Ammaniti, the author of the hugely popular I''m Not Scared, has been described as ''the best novelist of his generation''. With this breathtaking novel, he has produced a small masterpiece. Lorenzo has a few issues. They include the fact that he doesn''t have, or want, any friends. Because this is making his parents unhappy, he tells them he has been invited on a skiing holiday with a group from school. In fact, he is planning to spend the week happily ensconced in the cellar of their apartment building with a supply of canned tuna. Then his estranged older sister Olivia turns up in the cellar with some issues of her own. Over the next few days, as Lorenzo helps her through her heroin withdrawal, they form an intense bond. And Olivia reveals some secrets that the family have kept from Lorenzo. ''Niccolo Ammaniti is able to present both the innocence and egotism of children and the dark, threatening worlds they may inhabit in a convincing and gripping way...The novel is simply written but thematically rich.'' ReadPlus

Thirteen-year-old Cristiano Zena lives with his father Rino, a gormless neo-fascist, in a depressed semi-rural area of Italy. Rino and his drinking buddies are planning a ram raid on an ATM using a converted tractor while the wary, adoring Cristiano sits in on their meetings. As he watches their half-baked plans unravel, he daydreams about the unattainable Fabiana Ponticelli. He has no idea that something very, very bad is about to happen. Or that it will change his life forever. Niccolo Ammaniti, author of the loved and acclaimed I''m Not Scared, brings an extraordinary blend of tenderness, buffoonery and violent tragedy to this gritty, compelling novel from Italy''s industrial wastelands, translated by Jonathan Hunt. ''These anti-heroes create a fast-paced action thriller...The Crossroads is hard to put down.'' Courier Mail

From the author of the international bestseller, Iâ€TMm Not Scared. Youâ€TMve got to taste the high life once a week, otherwise whatâ€TMs the point of living? In swampy Ischiano Scalo, the grown-ups are losers and the children dream of escape. Pietro is a frustrated eleven-year-old, finding it hard to deal with school bullies and indifferent parents. His only support comes from his pretty friend Gloria and favourite teacher Flora. Graziano, aka Big Biglia, is an ageing Lothario who returns to the village with plans of marriage, though they are soon thwarted. Almost at once this oafish child-man finds another, unsuspecting paramour. In this wild and mordantly funny picaresque tale of small-town life, Ammaniti confirms his status as Italyâ€TMs best young writer.

Un piccolo paese perduto nel sud d''Italia del 1978 in mezzo al grano, ai boschi e alle colline. Un gruppo di ragazzini che nei giochi si amano e si odiano. I "grandi" che vanno e vengono: gli uomini in giro chissà per fare cosa, le donne a casa o al mercato. E un giorno in questo mondo fermo e ossessionante, dove si sogna di vedere il mare o di andare in città, accade qualcosa che cambia tutti i significati. (Buchdeckel verso).