A Small Thing About to Explode
Short Stories
Slovakia (Inaque)
Winner of 2009 Fucini Prize
Winner of 2008 Settembrini Prize
Finalist for the 2008 Chiara Prize
Shortlisted for the 2008 Kriterion Prize
After his previous astonishing debut with Handbook for successful girls, Paolo Cognetti is back in Italian bookstores with a new collection of short stories. This time the author’s unifying theme is the most sensitive, violent, and painful age of life—adolescence. Whether focusing on wealthy, twisted, fascinating girls committed to a clinic for the anorexic, or kids hurtling into the solitude of their parents’ disintegrating marriage, the adolescence explored in these short stories becomes a game of roulette in which it is the future that is at stake; the moment, painful and keenly felt, in which the protagonist becomes aware of his or her identity, and discovers sex, friendship, and the cruelty of life, while striving to transform all these elements into an opportunity for redemption and emancipation. With the intense and precise writing that won him his first popularity, and a perfect mastery of the way things intertwine, Paolo Cognetti proves once again that he is one of the best new writers at describing everyday life. And, more important, one of the few writers able to keep his readers’ rapt interest from the first page to the last.
Press reviews
Gabriele Ottaviani - Convenzionali
In questi racconti, uno migliore dell'altro, Cognetti dà vita a una comunione di amorosi sensi: ognuno può riconoscere e riconoscersi, e sentirsi più vicino agli altri.Leggi
Elena Botter - La Provincia - Ed. Varese
Premio Chiara,tra adolescenze e periferie dell'immaginazioneLeggi
Pierluigi Rizziato - Il Gazzettino
Una cosa piccola che sta per esplodere, cinque versioni dell'adolescenzaLeggi
Brunella Schisa - Il Venerdì
La vita agra degli adolescenti in cinque racconti piccoli piccoliLeggi
Daniela Liucci - MIA - Magazine In Action
<p align=justify><b>Daniela Liucci - MIA - Magazine In Action</b><br>Leggi
L'adolescenza come una tormentata stagione da raccontare.<br>
Matteo Chiavarone - Ghigliottina.it
I racconti di Paolo Cognetti in "Una cosa piccola che sta per esplodere".Leggi
Diario di una dipendenza
Un Cognetti di squarci, attimi e lampi di Polaroid, da cui lasciarsi condurre a occhi chiusi fuori dalla cornice.Leggi