I am proud to have taken part in this adventure, and proud of you.
Incurably a professor,
The Dreamer
Acknowledgments
Once, a student, in despair over the hundredth written homework assignment I had unloaded on him, asked me point blank, “Prof, why do you write?” I answered instinctively, “To know how it ends.” And it always ends like this, in writing as in life: with a thank-you.
Someone said that bad writers copy, but the good ones steal. I don’t know what category the reader will assign to me, but I’m sure that both come about from the debt we have toward life and people from whom we have copied, stolen, or—less furtively—received. Life always has the best copyright: an endless dramatizer who turns us into characters ever more capable of love and loving.
And so, how do you say it? They tormented us as children. We answered with those affected thank-yous without even believing in them. Instead, for me, growing up saying “thank you” has become not only an act of common sense, but maybe the happiest way to live in the world.
Therefore: to my family, from whom I learned that love is possible, always; to my parents, Giuseppe and Rita, who are celebrating their 45th anniversary this year; to my extraordinary brothers and sisters, who, with their points of view, fill me with the subtleties and colors of the world: Marco, the philosopher; Fabrizio (with Marina and Giulio) the historian; Elisabetta, the psychiatrist; Paola, the art historian; and Marta, the architect and author of my portrait on the jacket of the book cover. To them I add Marina Mercadante-Giordano and her family.
To whoever believed in this book and helped me to bring it to completion: first of all Valentina Pozzoli, unmatched midwife of stories, without whom this would not have seen the light of day. And then: Antonio Franchini, who believed in it right away with the same enthusiasm I saw in his children when they are listening to the fairy tales on the terrace called “Greece”; Marilena Rossi, who knows and loves the characters more than I do; Giulia Ichino and Alessandro Rivali, friends and attentive revisionists, delicate and sincere.
In no particular order to all those who, in diverse ways and times, have had a role behind the scenes of these pages: students and colleagues of the first year A and B of the Classical Lyceum San Carlo of Milan, all the Roman students, in particular those from the second year of the Classical Lyceum Dante, from Junior, of the Classical Lyceum Visconti, from the theatrical group Eufemia, from Ripagrande. Mario Franchina, unforgettable professor of the Classical Lyceum Father Pino Puglisi, who, when I was in the fourth year, one day never came back to school. Susanna Tamaro, Roberta Mazzoni, Gianluca and Tessa De Sanctis, Federico and Vanessa Canzi, Roberto and Monica Ponte, Angelo and Laura Cosa with their families, the friends of the Living Room and Delta. Aldo Viola, Paolo Pellegrino, Rosy from the bookstore, Il Trittico, Raffaele Chiarulli, Sveva Spelletti, Guido Marconi, Filippo Tabacco, Alessandra Gallerano, Paolo Virone, Antoine De Brabant, Michele Dolz, Valentina Provera, Sirio Legraanti, Paolo Diliberto, Giuseppe Corigliano, Sergio Norini, Mauro Leonardi, Armando Fumagalli, Marco Fabbri, Paola Florio, Marizio Bettini and his colleagues for the doctorate, Emanuela Canonico, Giuseppe Brighina, Lorenzo Farsi, Carlo Mazzola, Marcello Bertoli, Cristian Ciardelli … and my neighbor’s dog.
And to you, reader, who, on a couch, under the covers, on the road, on a bus, on a red bench, or wherever you prefer, have reached this page and therefore have given your precious time to my characters …
Thank you.
P.S. In Italy, the regulations that govern blood donation by a minor are stiffer and more complex than what one might infer from the novel. The narrative reasons took precedent on this issue, rather than the precise adherence to reality.
About the Author
Alessandro D'Avenia (Palermo, 1977) holds a PhD in Classics and is a high school literature teacher and screenwriter. This is his first novel.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Originally published in Italy as Bianca come il latte, rossa come il sangue
Translated from Italian by Franco Betti and Marjorana Karathanasis
Copyright © 2010 Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A.
English translation © 2013 by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A.
Art Director: Giacomo Callo
Cover image © Lux Vide and Rai Cinema
978-1-4804-1802-8
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