The Temptation to Be Happy
The International Bestseller
Published on 5. October 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-78607-288-7 (ISBN)
Description
'Sad, funny, wise and unblinkingly honest, this is truly wonderful.' Daily Mail
'I like the smell of pines and the aroma of freshly washed laundry. I like the rattle of hail on windowpanes and the texture of volcanic rock. I like the light in the sky when the sun has gone down.'
Cesare is an unlikely hero. As he says himself, 'I am seventy-seven years old, and for seventy-two years and one hundred and eleven days I threw my life down the toilet...' Is it too late for him to rediscover his passion for love and life?
Already an international bestseller, The Temptation to Be Happy is a coming-of-age story like no other.
'Immensely charming... Uplifting and very much on the side of life.' Mail on Sunday
Reviews / Votes
'Sad, funny, wise and unblinkingly honest, this is truly wonderful.' * <i>Daily Mail</i> * 'Uh-oh, here comes another one of those colourful curmudgeons who drop pearls of senior wisdom on their way to a new lease on life. Cesare certainly fits the stereotype, but he's funny, interesting and grumpy enough to stay on the winning side of the formula.' * <i>New York Times Book Review</i> * 'Immensely charming... Uplifting and very much on the side of life.' * <i>Mail on Sunday</i> * 'Marone's characters, irreverent and absurd, embark on adventures they had ceased to allow themselves to imagine in this darkly comedic take on ageing.' * <i>World Literature Today</i> * 'An impressive literary feat...a charming tale of opportunities taken and missed.' * <i>Reading Magazine</i> * 'Lorenzo Marone is the new voice that literature needs.' * <i>Corriere della Sera</i> * 'Unforgettable...comical and cynical while remaining tender and dramatic.' * <i>Corriere della Sera</i> * 'The Temptation to be Happy is that very rare thing - a book that can make you both laugh and cry... Marone's undoubted skill [is] demonstrated in some beautiful lyrical passages.' * <i>TripFiction</i> * 'Poignant...[with] moments of touching eccentricity.' * <i>bookoxygen</i> * 'A wonderful novel about ageing - ironic and light-footed.' * <i>Italien Magazin</i> * 'Packed with dark humour, the writer's embodiment of a near-octogenarian is an impressive feat.' * <i>Northern Echo</i> * 'A charming tale.' * <i>Daily Telegraph</i> * 'A toast to real happiness!' * <i>La Stampa</i> * 'A book that touches the heart...wonderfully honest, ingenious, quick and tragic.' * <i>Siegener Zeitung</i> * 'This novel owes its success largely to Lorenzo Marone's wonderful character Cesare Annunziata, and to the funny and paradoxical fact that this is an excellent coming-of-age novel whose protagonist is over seventy years old.' * <i>Il Mattino</i> * 'Comic, ironic, sarcastic descriptions that will make you smile but will also make you take a deep look at life in old age.' * <i>Wochenspiegel</i> *More details
Edition
UK and Export
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78607-288-7 (9781786072887)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Lorenzo Marone was born in 1974. Originally trained as a lawyer, he gave up his career to follow his passion for writing. His first novel, The Temptation to Be Happy, is a major bestseller in Italy. It has been translated into fifteen languages and was used as the inspiration for a film released in Italy in April 2017. Lorenzo Marone lives in Naples with his wife and son.
Shaun Whiteside's translations from Italian include books by Tiziano Scarpa, Paolo Giordano, Melissa Panarello and Luther Blissett/Wu Ming Collective. He lives in London.
Shaun Whiteside's translations from Italian include books by Tiziano Scarpa, Paolo Giordano, Melissa Panarello and Luther Blissett/Wu Ming Collective. He lives in London.