“Um, Mr. President,” the Chief of Police stepped forward shyly. “That’s exactly what we wanted to warn you about. Cicalino is already in Sicily. He looks like he wants to make a swim crossing to Pantelleria… he says Italy belongs to the Italians and Sicily belongs to the Sicilians and that Africans should not come and break our… excuse the term Mr. President, break our ‘balls’ here at home where we already have so many problems, he says it’s a war between the poor and that the State is to blame for being fugitive…”
A fan of literary rarities becomes intrigued by the introductory notes of a book he accidentally came across. The author of the novel has disappeared, and it seems that the mystery of his disappearance is related to the stories contained in the book. Is this just a publicity stunt or has the author really disappeared? And are the stories true or is it just literary fiction? The reader will slowly figure it out by making himself the protagonist of a punctilious treasure hunt that will see him wander from the East to the American continent, inevitably intertwining his life with that of the mysterious missing writer.
It might at first glance appear to be a simple travelogue “Professione Researcher” by Giorgio Pochetti (Robin&sons Editions), but as one goes on reading, one realizes that behind the mask of adventure novel lie the most topical social and political issues: the landing of migrants, relationships between ex-boyfriends, marital infidelity, and the fashion for devoting oneself to Eastern practices and philosophies such as yoga and meditation. One only has to read the introductory quote, in fact, to realize that Cicalino and the Five Slaps is a-not at all concealed-parody of Beppe Grillo and the Pentastasized party. How much political satire is there in this novel? Plenty, if we think that among the many stories told in the diary of the mysterious missing writer, the one about the landing of migrants in Pantelleria is not only the most voluminous, but also the most amusing and at the same time reflective.
The narrative unfolds on two narrative planes, both in the first person: one is that of the protagonist, who flies from one side of the globe to the other in search of the writer who seems to have vanished into thin air, and the other is that of the ghost writer himself, who gives voice to his stories. A cocktail of travelogues and narrative fiction, thanks to which one wonders how much truth there is in the events recounted and how much has been fictionalized, whether those countries were really visited by the author or whether they are just the product of his literary ars.
A fresh and relaxed writing style that is never heavy-handed and pushes the reader to finish the novel in a few days.
A book for the whole family, which I recommend pairing with a viewing of the film “Around the World in 80 Days” in the 1956 version, with a David Niven at the top of his game.
Giano – January 30, 2019
