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Published Oct 2009
400 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Paperback Original. From the internationally best-selling author of I'm Not Scared comes a dizzying and compulsively readable novel set in a moribund town in industrial Italy, where a father and son contend with a hostile world and their own inner demons.
The economically depressed village of Varrano, where Cristiano Zena lives with his hard-drinking, out-of-work father, Rino, is a world away from the picturesque towns of travel-brochure Italy. When Rino and his rough-edged cronies Danilo and Quattro Formaggi come up with a plan to reverse all their fortunes, Cristiano wonders if maybe their lives are poised for deliverance after all. But the plan goes horribly awry. On a night of apocalyptic weather, each character will act in a way that will have irreversible consequences for themselves and others, and Cristiano will find his life changed forever, and not in the way he had hoped. Gritty and relentless, As God Commands moves at breakneck speed, blending brutal violence, dark humor, and surprising tenderness.
"Ammaniti, a wonder at creating graphic black comedy, keeps the plot rolling while pushing his characters to their absolute limits, even if the last act is a bit messy." - Publishers Weekly
"The masterly Ammaniti creates powerful characters not easy to forget." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. Not at all pretty, but darkly, ferociously beautiful-a triumph for Europe's hottest novelist." - Kirkus Reviews
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Niccolò Ammaniti was born in Rome in 1966. He is the author of three novels, as well as a collection of short stories. At thirty-four, he was the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Viareggio-Repaci prize for I'm Not Scared which has been translated into twenty languages and was made into a movie.
His books have inspired 5 films, and in 2014 he directed his first documentary, The Good Life.
Link to Niccolo Ammaniti's Website
Name Pronunciation
Niccolo Ammaniti: ni-CO-lo ama-NEE-tee
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