Paolo Gioradano's debut novel has sold over a million copies around the world and earned him Italy's premier literary prize, the Premio Strega. Now, finally, we've earned our taste of his celebrated book here in the states. The Solitude of Prime Numbers is a book of striking beauty and disturbing content, including anorexia, cutting, loneliness and guilt. It's a coming-of-age story in the most awkward and lovely tradition, and its two protagonists are destined to win hearts here just as easily as they have abroad.
Giordano is a young author - only 27 - and his acclaim is all the more impressive given that he's a physicist by trade. He'll be here in conversation with his editor and now head of her own eponymous imprint, Pamela Dorman.
News of Note
Staff Picks
Y the Last Man Vol.1: Unmanned
Written by Jessica
by Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra (Vertigo, $12.99)
Now that the tenth and final book in Vaughan's graphic novel epic has been released in paperback, it's a great time to start with number one. An unknown plague wipes out the male half of humankind, except for escape artist Yorick and his pet monkey, who quickly become hot commodities -- but it's not as fun as it sounds. Read it for the satisfying action, the clever plot twists, the Shakespearean allusions. Then start conversations about what it would mean for the Democratic party if the only politicians left were women.
Wolves of the Crescent Moon
Written by Sohaila
by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed (Penguin, $14.00)
A fantastic delirious meandering book about the connections among a eunuch, a Bedouin and a one-eyed orphan in Saudi Arabia. There are man-eating wolves and a lime green Rolls Royce. Oh yes.
The Mirror of the Sea
Written by Dustin
by Joseph Conrad (Marlboro Press, $10.95)
Conrad is such a gothic novelist, it's a suprising pleasure to read here his slow, conversational discussion of the sea and the sailing life. Of course, he indulges himself in some arch descriptions here and there, but the subject is dramatic enough to almost demand it. This amorphous memoir-essay is an especially satisfying read for anyone who's ever been shaded by sail.
Now that the tenth and final book in Vaughan's graphic novel epic has been released in paperback, it's a great time to start with number one. An unknown plague wipes out the male half of humankind, except for escape artist Yorick and his pet monkey, who quickly become hot commodities -- but it's not as fun as it sounds. Read it for the satisfying action, the clever plot twists, the Shakespearean allusions. Then start conversations about what it would mean for the Democratic party if the only politicians left were women.
A fantastic delirious meandering book about the connections among a eunuch, a Bedouin and a one-eyed orphan in Saudi Arabia. There are man-eating wolves and a lime green Rolls Royce. Oh yes.
Conrad is such a gothic novelist, it's a suprising pleasure to read here his slow, conversational discussion of the sea and the sailing life. Of course, he indulges himself in some arch descriptions here and there, but the subject is dramatic enough to almost demand it. This amorphous memoir-essay is an especially satisfying read for anyone who's ever been shaded by sail.