As a boy growing up in rural Italy in the 1930s, Damìn is experiencing the first stirrings of adolescence when he accidentally sees his mother having sex with the local Fascist commandant. His pain, anger, and confusion are uncomfortably intertwined with a compulsion to watch them, which becomes an obsession. Isolating himself from anyone who might help him understand what he’s feeling, he channels his fury into his javelin, getting better and better until he is a local champion. But his success is fleeting, as wholly confused and caught up in his own anger, he ends up betraying and humiliating his friends. The Javelin Thrower is the story of an erotic education turned tragic, poisoned by the darkness running through Mussolini’s Italy.

The Javelin Thrower (The Italian List)

Literature & Fiction

Volponi, Paolo

Literary

Seagull Books

When terrorist bombs explode in a bank in Milan on December 12, 1969 they raise the curtain on a cast of unlikely players. Prof. Gaspare Subissoni and his lifelong companion and inspiration, Vivés, are both anarchist veterans of the Spanish Civil War trying to retain their dignity, and their commitments in the face of a new age. The young Count Oddo Oddi-Semproni and his two unmarried aunts, Clelia and Marzia, who have protected him — and themselves — hide from the modern world in their crumbling Renaissance palace. Their chauffeur Giocondini serves them — and himself — with limousine tours to "Italy" and with overwrought dreams of a revived Duchy. But then the young prostitute Dirce — whom Oddo would have as his countess — sets all their worlds upside-down when she, Gaspare and Vivés join forces for one final act. This satire of Italian social and political contrasts uses a wry wit and keen sense of detail to ask what, ultimately, is more real: the images of distant conflicts, allegiances and celebrities that flicker on and off the TV screen? Or the loves, memories, and loyalties of a single lifetime?

Last Act in Urbino

Contemporary

Italica Press, Inc.

Le mosche del capitale (Italian Edition)

Einaudi

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Volponi, Paolo. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Volponi, Paolo