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An American Cakewalk: Ten Syncopators of the Modern World
by Zeese PapanikolasThe profound economic and social changes in the post-Civil War United States created new challenges to a nation founded on Enlightenment and transcendental values, religious certainties, and rural traditions. Newly-freed African Americans, emboldened women, intellectuals and artists,and a polyglot tide of immigrants found themselves in a restless new world of railroads, factories, and skyscrapers where old assumptions were being challengedand new values had yet to be created. InAn American Cakewalk: Ten Syncopators of the Modern World, Zeese Papanikolas tells the lively and entertaining story of a diverse group of figures in the arts and sciences who inhabited this new America. Just as ragtime composers subverted musical expectations by combining European march timing with African syncopations, so this book's protagonists--who range from Emily Dickinson toThorstein Veblen and from Henry and William James to Charles Mingus--interrogated the modern American world through their own "syncopations" of cultural givens. The old antebellum slave dance, the cakewalk, with its parody of the manners and pretensions of the white folks in the Big House, provides a template of how the tricksters, shamans, poets, philosophers, ragtime pianists, and jazz musicians who inhabit this book used the arts of parody, satire, and disguise to subvert American cultural norms and to create new works of astonishing beauty and intellectual vigor.
100 World Leaders Who Shaped World History (100 Series)
by Kathy PaparchontisLearn all about the fascinating lives and tremendous impact of 100 influential leaders around the world and throughout history with this fact-filled biography collection for kids 8 and upThis easy-to-read biography collection includes:100 one-page biographies: Find out how these individuals from around the world changed the course of history!Illustrated portraits: Each biography includes an illustration to help bring history to life!A timeline, trivia questions, project ideas, and more: Boost your learning and test your knowledge with fun activities and resources!From Hammurabi to Catherine the Great, Winston Churchill to Nelson Mandela and many more, readers will dive into the lives of 100 kings, dictators, popes, prime ministers, and presidents from all over the world. Organized chronologically, this thoroughly researched biography collection offers a look at how the actions of each leader have affected the course of human history, even hundreds and thousands of years after their reign.
Boldness Be My Friend
by Richard Pape"Escape... escape... escape... by God!"' was his constant exhortation. "Never mind hunger pains, discomfort, or any other agony. Let escape become your passion, your one and only obsession until you finally reach home."'Shot down over Berlin in 1941, Richard Pape's saga of captivity is a story of courage unmatched in the annals of escape. Four escapes took him across the breadth of German-occupied Europe; to Poland and Czechoslovakia; to Austria and Hungary. Aggressive and impetuous, his adventures sweep the reader along on a torrent of excitement.
Brandeis: An Intimate Biography of Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
by Lewis J. PaperThis vivid biography reflects the fullness of Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis' personal and professional lives. Born in Kentucky shortly before the Civil War, Brandeis rose to national fame as "the people's attorney"--the first public interest lawyer--and went on to become an adviser to Woodrow Wilson and a confidant of Franklin Roosevelt.
Stories of the Soviet Experience: Memoirs, Diaries, Dreams
by Irina PapernoBeginning with glasnost in the late 1980s and continuing into the present, scores of personal accounts of life under Soviet rule, written throughout its history, have been published in Russia, marking the end of an epoch. In a major new work on private life and personal writings, Irina Paperno explores this massive outpouring of human documents to uncover common themes, cultural trends, and literary forms. The book argues that, diverse as they are, these narratives-memoirs, diaries, notes, blogs-assert the historical significance of intimate lives shaped by catastrophic political forces, especially the Terror under Stalin and World War II. Moreover, these published personal documents create a community where those who lived through the Soviet era can gain access to the inner recesses of one another's lives.This community strives to forge a link to the tradition of Russia's nineteenth-century intelligentsia; thus the Russian "intelligentsia" emerges as an additional implicit subject of this book. The book surveys hundreds of personal accounts and focuses on two in particular, chosen for their exceptional quality, scope, and emotional power. Notes about Anna Akhmatova is the diary Lidiia Chukovskaia, a professional editor, kept to document the day-to-day life of her friend, the great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. Evgeniia Kiseleva, a barely literate former peasant, kept records in notebooks with the thought of crafting a movie script from the story of her life. The striking parallels and contrasts between these two documents demonstrate how the Soviet state and the idea of history shaped very different lives and very different life stories.The book also analyzes dreams (most of them terror dreams) recounted in the diaries and memoirs of authors ranging from a peasant to well-known writers, a Party leader, and Stalin himself. History, Paperno shows, invaded their dreams, too. With a sure grasp of Russian cultural history, great sensitivity to the men and women who wrote, and a command of European and American scholarship on life writing, Paperno places diaries and memoirs of the Soviet experience in a rich historical and conceptual frame. An important and lasting contribution to the history of Russian culture at the end of an epoch, Stories of the Soviet Experience also illuminates the general logic and specific uses of personal narratives.
"Who, What Am I?": Tolstoy Struggles to Narrate the Self
by Irina Paperno"God only knows how many diverse, captivating impressions and thoughts evoked by these impressions . . . pass in a single day. If it were only possible to render them in such a way that I could easily read myself and that others could read me as I do. . ." Such was the desire of the young Tolstoy. Although he knew that this narrative utopia—turning the totality of his life into a book—would remain unfulfilled, Tolstoy would spend the rest of his life attempting to achieve it. "Who, What Am I?" is an account of Tolstoy's lifelong attempt to find adequate ways to represent the self, to probe its limits and, ultimately, to arrive at an identity not based on the bodily self and its accumulated life experience. This book guides readers through the voluminous, highly personal nonfiction writings that Tolstoy produced from the 1850s until his death in 1910. The variety of these texts is enormous, including diaries, religious tracts, personal confessions, letters, autobiographical fragments, and the meticulous accounts of dreams. For Tolstoy, inherent in the structure of the narrative form was a conception of life that accorded linear temporal order a predominant role, and this implied finitude. He refused to accept that human life stopped with death and that the self was limited to what could be remembered and told. In short, his was a philosophical and religious quest, and he followed in the footsteps of many, from Plato and Augustine to Rousseau and Schopenhauer. In reconstructing Tolstoy's struggles, this book reflects on the problems of self and narrative as well as provides an intellectual and psychological biography of the writer.
Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person
by Anna Mehler PapernyAward-winning journalist Anna Mehler Paperny's stunning memoir chronicles with courageous honesty and uncommon eloquence her experience of depression and her quest to explore what we know and don't know about this disease that afflicts almost a fifth of the population--providing an invaluable guide to a system struggling to find solutions. As fascinating as it is heartrending, as outrageously funny as it is serious, it is a must-read for anyone impacted by depression--and that's pretty much everybody. Depression is a havoc-wreaking illness that masquerades as personal failing and hijacks your life. After a major suicide attempt in her early twenties, Anna Mehler Paperny resolved to put her reporter's skills to use to get to know her enemy, setting off on a journey to understand her condition, the dizzying array of medical treatments on offer and a medical profession in search of answers. Charting the way depression wrecks so many, she maps competing schools of therapy, pharmacology, cutting-edge medicine, the pill-popping pitfalls of long-term treatment, the glaring unknowns and the institutional shortcomings that both patients and practitioners are up against. She interviews leading medical experts across Canada and the US, from psychiatrists to neurologists, brain-mapping pioneers to family practitioners, and others dabbling in strange hypotheses--and shares compassionate conversations with fellow sufferers.Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me tracks Anna's quest for knowledge and her desire to get well. Impeccably reported, it is a profoundly compelling story about the human spirit and the myriad ways we treat (and fail to treat) the disease that accounts for more years swallowed up by disability than any other in the world.
Broken Greek
by Pete Paphides*AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4 'BOOK OF THE WEEK'*'Lip-lickingly, dance-around-the-living-room good... A smash hit' Observer'Unflinching and heartwarming' - Adam Kay'Tender, clever and as funny as it gets ... a heart-piercing joy' - Lauren Laverne'An exceptional coming-of-age story [...] Pete Paphides may very well have the biggest heart in Britain' - Marina Hyde'I ADORE this utterly wonderful coming-of-age memoir. Joyful, clever, and a bit heartbreaking' - Nina Stibbe'Heartfelt, hilarious and beautifully written, Broken Greek is a childhood memoir like no other' - Cathy Newman'So wonderfully written, such a light touch. Drenched in sentiment yet not in the least sentimental' - John Niven'It's brilliant. Sad, really funny and beautifully written ... just fantastic' - Alexis Petridis'A truly beautiful book' - James O'Brien'Intoxicating' - Kirsty Wark'Oh, how I love Pete Paphides and this book' - Daniel Finkelstein'A balm in these times' David Nicholls'Fantastic ... Can't recommend it highly enough' Tim Burgess__________'Do you sometimes feel like the music you're hearing is explaining your life to you?'When Pete's parents moved from Cyprus to Birmingham in the 1960s in the hope of a better life, they had no money and only a little bit of English. They opened a fish-and-chip shop in Acocks Green. The Great Western Fish Bar is where Pete learned about coin-operated machines, male banter and Britishness.Shy and introverted, Pete stopped speaking from age 4 to 7, and found refuge instead in the bittersweet embrace of pop songs, thanks to Top of the Pops and Dial-A-Disc. From Brotherhood of Man to UB40, from ABBA to The Police, music provided the safety net he needed to protect him from the tensions of his home life. It also helped him navigate his way around the challenges surrounding school, friendships and phobias such as visits to the barber, standing near tall buildings and Rod Hull and Emu.With every passing year, his guilty secret became more horrifying to him: his parents were Greek, but all the things that excited him were British. And the engine of that realisation? 'Sugar Baby Love', 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart', 'Tragedy', 'Silly Games', 'Going Underground', 'Come On Eileen', and every other irresistibly thrilling chart hit blaring out of the chip shop radio.Never have the trials and tribulations of growing up and the human need for a sense of belonging been so heart-breakingly and humorously depicted.*Listen along with Pete's BROKEN GREEK playlist on Spotify!*
Broken Greek: Radio 4 Book of the Week
by Pete Paphides'Tender, clever and as funny as it gets ... a heart-piercing joy' - Lauren Laverne'I ADORE this utterly wonderful coming-of-age memoir. Joyful, clever, and a bit heartbreaking' - Nina Stibbe'Heartfelt, hilarious and beautifully written, Broken Greek is a childhood memoir like no other' - Cathy Newman'So wonderfully written, such a light touch. Drenched in sentiment yet not in the least sentimental' - John Niven'It's brilliant. Sad, really funny and beautifully written ... just fantastic' - Alexis Petridis'Intoxicating' - Kirsty Wark__________'Do you sometimes feel like the music you're hearing is explaining your life to you?'When Pete's parents moved from Cyprus to Birmingham in the 1960s in the hope of a better life, they had no money and only a little bit of English. They opened a fish-and-chip shop in Acocks Green. The Great Western Fish Bar is where Pete learned about coin-operated machines, male banter and Britishness.Shy and introverted, Pete stopped speaking from age 4 to 7, and found refuge instead in the bittersweet embrace of pop songs, thanks to Top of the Pops and Dial-A-Disc. From Brotherhood of Man to UB40, from ABBA to The Police, music provided the safety net he needed to protect him from the tensions of his home life. It also helped him navigate his way around the challenges surrounding school, friendships and phobias such as visits to the barber, standing near tall buildings and Rod Hull and Emu.With every passing year, his guilty secret became more horrifying to him: his parents were Greek, but all the things that excited him were British. And the engine of that realisation? 'Sugar Baby Love', 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart', 'Tragedy', 'Silly Games', 'Going Underground', 'Come On Eileen', and every other irresistibly thrilling chart hit blaring out of the chip shop radio.Never have the trials and tribulations of growing up and the human need for a sense of belonging been so heart-breakingly and humorously depicted.(P)2020 Quercus Editions Ltd
A Nick Drake Companion
by Pete PaphidesThis short book, taken from Remembered For A While, tells the stories and circumstances that surround every known recording in Nick Drake's canon (as well as a few unrecorded songs). The result is like a detailed, extended series of liner notes, something to read while sitting in your favourite chair, in your favourite room, listening to the imperishably beautiful music they describe. A Nick Drake companion.
A Nick Drake Companion
by Pete PaphidesThis short book, taken from Remembered For A While, tells the stories and circumstances that surround every known recording in Nick Drake's canon (as well as a few unrecorded songs). The result is like a detailed, extended series of liner notes, something to read while sitting in your favourite chair, in your favourite room, listening to the imperishably beautiful music they describe. A Nick Drake companion.
Enter the Dragon
by Theo PaphitisClassic rags-to-riches story by entrepreneur and Dragons' Den star Theo PaphitisTheo Paphitis is the outspoken and charismatic star of Dragons' Den who has turned round a string of household names, from Ryman to La Senza, in a high-profile business career that has brought him millions. Now, in his revealing and controversial memoir, he not only takes the reader behind the scenes on Dragons' Den, he explains how he made his fortune. He also provides a masterclass in business methods that will enable anyone who reads this book to learn so much about how they too can improve their business.In the book, Theo recalls how his family moved to England from Cyprus and how as a poor immigrant, he took whatever jobs he could, starting as a tea boy for Lloyd's. There he began to take the first steps on a career that would net him a fortune. He reveals the methods that took him to the top, and also provides some fascinating insight into the national game from his spell as chairman of Millwall FC. But, above all, this is a book that will provide all readers with the opportunity to learn from one of the nation's most successful businessmen and put his ideas into practice.
Enter the Dragon
by Theo PaphitisClassic rags-to-riches story by entrepreneur and Dragons' Den star Theo PaphitisTheo Paphitis is the outspoken and charismatic star of Dragons' Den who has turned round a string of household names, from Ryman to La Senza, in a high-profile business career that has brought him millions. Now, in his revealing and controversial memoir, he not only takes the reader behind the scenes on Dragons' Den, he explains how he made his fortune. He also provides a masterclass in business methods that will enable anyone who reads this book to learn so much about how they too can improve their business.In the book, Theo recalls how his family moved to England from Cyprus and how as a poor immigrant, he took whatever jobs he could, starting as a tea boy for Lloyd's. There he began to take the first steps on a career that would net him a fortune. He reveals the methods that took him to the top, and also provides some fascinating insight into the national game from his spell as chairman of Millwall FC. But, above all, this is a book that will provide all readers with the opportunity to learn from one of the nation's most successful businessmen and put his ideas into practice.
The Mystical Backpacker
by Hannah PappPart memoir, part guidebook, The Mystical Backpacker invites you to explore your inner terrain and learn how to create your own unique version of a modern day vision quest or walk-about. Tired of living a life based on other's expectations, Hannah Papp quit her job, bought a EuroRail ticket and a map, notified her landlady, and left town. Embarking on a journey across Europe with no plan and no direction, Hannah stumbled into becoming a modern-day Mystical Backpacker. Along the way her discoveries and the teachers she encountered allowed her to go on a deeper journey into the self and the spirit--revealing the real self she had long been missing. The Mystical Backpacker shows you how to identify the signs along the road that will lead to teachers and experiences that will reorient your own life map. Ultimately, The Mystical Backpacker offers a solution, a way to break free and find your inner self's rhythms and needs, fulfilling your true destiny. It's time you hit the road and become a mystical backpacker.
Shakespeare Alive!
by Joseph Papp Elizabeth KirklandFrom Joseph Papp, American's foremost theater producer, and writer Elizabeth Kirkland: a captivating tour through the world of William Shakespeare. Discover the London of Shakespeare's time, a fascinating place to be--full of mayhem and magic, exploration and exploitation, courtiers and foreigners. Stroll through narrow, winding streets crowded with merchants and minstrels, hoist a pint in a rowdy alehouse, and hurry across the river to the open-air Globe Theater to see that latest play written by a young man named Will Shakespeare. Shakespeare Alive! spirits you back to the very years of that London--as everyday people might have experienced it. Find out how young people fell in love, how workers and artists made ends meet, what people found funny and what they feared most. Go on location with an Elizabethan theater company to learn how plays were produced, where Shakespeare's plots came from and how he transformed them. Hear the music of Shakespeare's language and words we still use today that were first spoken in his time. Open the book and elbow your way into the Globe with the groundlings. You'll be joining one of the most democratic audiences the theater has ever known--alewives, apprentices, shoemakers and nobles--in applauding the dazzling wordplay and swordplay brought to you by William Shakespeare.
Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas
by Alexi PappasThe Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker and writer Alexi Pappas shares what she&’s learned about confidence, self-reliance, mental health, embracing pain, and achieving your dreams. &“Heartbreaking and hilarious.&”—Mindy Kaling • &“A beautiful read.&”—Ruth Reichl • &“Essential guidance to anyone dreaming big dreams.&”—Shalane Flanagan • &“I couldn&’t put it down.&”—Adam Grantrun like a bravey sleep like a baby dream like a crazy replace can&’t with maybe When &“Renaissance runner&” (New York Times) Alexi Pappas—Olympic athlete, actress, filmmaker, and writer—was four years old, her mother died by suicide, drastically altering the course of Pappas&’s life and setting her on a search for female role models. When her father signed his bereaved daughter up for sports teams as a way to keep her busy, female athletes became the first women Pappas looked up to, and her Olympic dream was born. At the same time, Pappas had big creative dreams, too: She wanted to make movies, write, and act. Despite setbacks and hardships, Pappas refused to pick just one lane. She put in a tremendous amount of hard work and wouldn&’t let anything stand in her way until she achieved all of her dreams, however unrelated they may seem to outsiders. In a single year, 2016, she made her Olympic debut as a distance runner and wrote, directed, and starred in her first feature film. But great highs are often accompanied by deep lows; with joy comes sorrow. In Bravey, Pappas fearlessly and honestly shares her battle with post-Olympic depression and describes how she emerged on the other side as a thriving and self-actualized woman. Unflinching, exuberant, and always entertaining, Bravey showcases Pappas&’s signature, charming voice as she reflects upon the touchstone moments in her life and the lessons that have powered her career as both an athlete and an artist—foremost among them, how to be brave. Pappas&’s experiences reveal how we can all overcome hardship, befriend pain, celebrate victory, relish the loyalty found in teammates, and claim joy. In short: how every one of us can become a bravey.
Bravey (Adapted for Young Readers): Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas
by Alexi PappasAlexi Pappas is not only an Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker, she is a writer whose heartwarming and life-affirming memoir will inspire young readers, as she shares the touchstone moments in her life that helped her learn about confidence and self-reliance, compassion and forgiveness, and loss and hope, in this accessible and motivating memoir.What is a bravey? For Alexi Pappas, it means to chase the goals that seem scary. She has not shied away from the challenge.In this honest and hopeful memoir written especially for young readers, Alexi Pappas details key moments that had profound effects on her life, including the loss of her mother when she was just four years old, to her formative years at school where she felt different from her peers, and into her young adult life, including the incredible year she experienced in 2016 when she made her Olympic debut as a distance runner and wrote, directed, and starred in her first feature film. Through it all, Alexi worked hard—physically, mentally, and emotionally, but not without setbacks and difficulties, all of which helped her learn about confidence and self-reliance, compassion and forgiveness, loss and hope. Even with good things happening, Alexi found herself facing anxiety and mental health issues. Isn't winning supposed to make a person happy? How does one make life better when it already seems good? Alexi doesn't provide all the answers, but she offers ideas to consider when life gets complicated.Young readers will be inspired by Alexi's journey to create an abundant life filled with loving friends and family and strong female role models and mentors--who helped to shape the bravey she is today.
Godfather of Night: A Greek Mafia Father, a Drug Runner Son, and an Unexpected Shot at Redemption
by Kevin PappasMore than a gripping tale, this work unveils the Greek-American crime syndicate and takes readers to a dark place where high-level crime, government corruption, and family secrets collide.
Oprah Winfrey: Talk Show Host and Media Magnet (Black Americans of Achievement--Legacy Edition)
by Sherry PaprockiOprah Winfrey has used her intellect, her education, and her personal experiences to build her life as a talk-show host, an actress, and a philanthropist. She started a magazine, founded television and film production companies, and created Oprah's Angel Network, which gives away millions of dollars each year. Through The Oprah Winfrey Show, which can be seen in 121 countries, she is known by people around the globe. Some people say that Winfrey is the most powerful woman in the United States today. She is wealthy and influential, she knows many famous people, and she wins coveted awards. Yet Winfrey remains focused on the goals she set during her Mississippi girlhood: learning about other people and the ways she can help them improve their lives.
Engaged Spirituality: Ten Lives of Contemplation and Action
by Janet W. ParachinThe lives of these ten people teach and inspire us through their stories of deep spirituality and social action that have moved the world.
The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower
by Michel ParadisA thrilling new biography of Dwight Eisenhower set in the months leading up to D-Day, when he grew from a well-liked general into one of the singular figures of American history."This is hands-down the most deeply researched, sensitive, intimate, and nuanced portrait of Eisenhower." —DAVID KENNEDY, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for History | "A masterly portrait." —General WESLEY CLARK | "Gorgeously written. The only must-read book to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day." —ALEX KERSHAW, New York Times bestselling author | STARRED reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library JournalOn June 6, 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower addressed the thousands of American troops preparing to invade Normandy, exhorting them to embrace the “Great Crusade” they faced. Then, in a fleeting moment alone, he drafted a resignation letter in case the invasion failed.In The Light of Battle, Michel Paradis, acclaimed author of Last Mission to Tokyo, paints a vivid portrait of Dwight Eisenhower as he learns to navigate the crosscurrents of diplomacy, politics, strategy, family, and fame with the fate of the free world hanging in the balance. In a world of giants—Churchill, Roosevelt, De Gaulle, Marshall, MacArthur—it was a barefoot boy from Abilene, Kansas, who would master the art of power and become a modern-day George Washington.Drawing upon meticulous research and a voluminous body of newly discovered records, letters, diaries, and firsthand accounts from three continents, Paradis brings Eisenhower to life, as a complicated man who craved simplicity, a genial cipher whose smile was a lethal political weapon.With a page-turning pace and an eye for the overlooked, Paradis interweaves the grand arc of history with more human concerns, bringing readers into the private moments that led to Eisenhower’s most pivotal decisions. By deftly integrating the personal and the political, he reveals how Eisenhower’s rise both reflected and was integral to America’s rise as a global superpower.An unflinching look at how character is forged, and leadership is learned, The Light of Battle breathes new life into the man who made “the leader of the free world” the mantle of the American presidency.
Clever Maids: The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales
by Valerie ParadizParadiz (PhD, German studies) debunks the myth that Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected their fairy tales from German peasants. In the context of German romanticism and nationalism, French literary influences, and period attitudes toward women, she credits heretofore unheralded female family friends for contributing such classic stories with motifs of victimized females as "Red Riding Hood" and "Bluebeard. " Illustrations are reprinted from the 1886 Macmillan edition of Household Stories from the Collection of the Brothers Grimm. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Elijah's Cup: A Family's Journey into the Community and Culture of High-functioning Autism and Asperger's Syndrome
by Valerie ParadizParadiz, the co-founder and director of a school for autistic teens, chronicles her life with her son, Elijah, diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Her inspiring narrative celebrates the idiosyncratic beauty of the Asperger mind and the sense of mutual support and self-respect in the Asperger's syndrome community. This paperback edition includes a new chapter bringing readers up to date on Elijah's education and his mother's advocacy work, and an afterword by Elijah himself. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
僕の故郷だった
by Cristiano Parafioritiネブローディ山脈に佇む小さな町、ガラーティ・マメルティーノ。その中心からは、多くのストーリーが溢れている。まさに「僕の故郷だった」は、そのひと欠片を蘇えらせる。 躍動感あふれる登場人物、魅惑の香りと昔ながらの味わい豊かなストーリー20作品を通じて、作者は真実と架空な様を巧みに使い、自身の青春時代の軌跡を辿る。 読み続けていくなかで、南イタリアの弱き声を感じる。あきらめと憂鬱に混迷した、そしてなお、過ぎ行く日々や、地元離れ、不当な現実と貧しさに打ちのめされて疲れた、傷を負った地へ愛しみをもつ苦しい声。それでもこの地を離れた人々の心にいつも生き続けている。 それらの思い出が記憶に刻まれ、まだ今でも感動を与えてくれた、そこに生きたあの瞬間、あの日、あの時が映像、想い、言葉として溢れ、こぼれ落ちる感情の残りを形づくり、心に蓄積されていくのである。
シチリアの心
by Cristiano Parafioriti前作「僕の故郷だった」(2014) で多くの読者を魅了した、クリスティアーノ・パラフィオリーティが、自身の故郷シチリアのガラーティ・マメルティーノを舞台に繰り広げられるストーリーを再び描く。新たなる登場人物、新たな趣き、そして新たなる感動が、隠れた想いと多くの表情をゆっくり解き放ちながら心のパレットを彩っていきます。本作の主題であるシチリアの心は、それぞれの物語の中で息づき、遠く離れた地の哀愁の念を漂わせながらも、情熱的で純粋でもあるこの地へ読み手を惹き込みながら、ゆっくりと露わになっていくのです。時とは、単なる概念でしかなく、この島とそこに生きる人々への愛と思い出を溢れさせながら、一瞬、昨日そして今日の瞬間とが絡み合っていくのです。読み進めていくうちに、作者と故郷との強い絆を感じさせ、長年に渡り苦しめる先祖代々続くともいえる愛と思い出の狭間で、シチリアの心という甘い病に宿命的に魅了された作者がさまようのです。