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Published in USA
Jan 2012
192 pages
Genre: Novels
Publication Information
From internationally best-selling author Niccolò Ammaniti, comes a funny, tragic, gut-punch of a novel, charting how an unlikely alliance between two outsiders blows open one family's secrets.
Lorenzo Cumi is a fourteen-year-old misfit. To quell the anxiety of his concerned, socially conscious parents, he tells them he's been invited on an exclusive ski vacation with the popular kids. On the morning of the trip, Lorenzo demands that his mother drop him off before they arrive at the train station, insisting that his status will be compromised if he shows up accompanied by his mother. Reluctantly, she agrees, and as soon as she is safely out of the vicinity, he turns around and makes his way back to his neighborhood, to put his real plan in motion: for one blessed week, Lorenzo will retreat to a forgotten cellar in his family's apartment building, where he will live in perfect isolation, keeping the adult world at bay.
But when his estranged half-sister, Olivia, shows up in the cellar unexpectedly, his idyll is shattered, and the two become locked in a battle of wills - forced to confront the very demons they are each struggling to escape.
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"Starred Review. Both tender and emotionally arresting, Ammaniti's novel is unforgettable." - Publishers Weekly
"[Niccolo Ammaniti] elegizes adolescence fiercely and sympathetically. His 14-year-old hero, Lorenzo Cumi, is a great character, part Young Werther, part Kurt Cobain... [Me and You] is scary, lovely and at last a heartbreaker." - Kirkus Reviews
"A [#1] best seller in Italy, and - here's the rub - Bernardo Bertolucci is directing the film version." - Library Journal
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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
A timely novel that explores the human capacity for resiliency and compassion.
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