Live Bait

March 31, 2014
Genovesi’s novel of contemporary Italy may be epic in length, but it amounts to little more than the meandering story of one young Italian man’s life in the small town of Muglione, outside Pisa, where nothing ever seems to happen. Fiorenzo Marelli, at 19, is trying to figure out what he wants. Although enrolled in high school, he never goes, spending his time instead working at his father’s bait shop and singing in a band named Metal Devastation. The two defining events in his life are the loss of his hand in a firecracker mishap as a child, and, several years later, the death of his mother. Everything changes for Fiorenzo after he crosses paths with Tiziana, who is 32, beautiful, and vastly overqualified for her job managing the local youth center. The pair have almost nothing in common, but they do share a deep sense of boredom with Muglione, though for different reasons. Genovesi’s narrative may be intended as some larger commentary on the stasis of Italian youth, but, if so, might be too subtle to connect with an American audience.

May 1, 2014
When he isn't in school, which is often, 19-year-old metalhead Fiorenzo works at his father's bait-and-tackle store in Muglione, a sorry little city on the Pisan plain. Not much of note happens therewell, Fiorenzo did lose his right hand in a fireworks mishap when he was 14 and is currently determined that his garage band, Metal Devastation, is going to make it big. Ah, but then he meets 32-year-old Tiziana, who manages the local youth center, which has been taken over by senior citizens, and falls in love. Add Mirko, a young cycling phenomhe's called the Little Champto the mix, and you have a bte noire for Fiorenzo and enough complications to drive him crazy. Italian author Genovesi has written a comical novel that is never quite as humorous as it thinks it is and is more discursive than it needs to be but has quiet charms nevertheless. Fiorenzo, for example, proves the universality of adolescent awkwardness; his sometimes requited love for Tiziana is sweet, Mirko is an especially appealing addition to the cast, and the Tuscan setting is nicely realized.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)