Winner of the 2011 Strega Prize, this blend of essay, social criticism, and memoir is a striking portrait of the effects of globalization on Italy's declining economy.
Edoardo Nesi is an Italian writer, filmmaker, and translator. He
began his career translating the work of such authors as Bruce
Chatwin, Malcolm Lowry, Stephen King, and Quentin Tarantino. He has
written six novels, one of which, L'et dell'oro, was a finalist for
the 2005 Strega Prize and a winner of the Bruno Cavallini Prize. He
wrote and directed the film Fughe da fermo (Fandango, 2001), based
on his novel of the same name, and has translated David Foster
Wallace's Infinite Jest.
Antony Shugaar is an author and translator. His most recent
publication, written with the International Spy Museum in
Washington DC, is I Lie for a Living, and he is the coauthor of
Latitude Zero. His most recent translations include I Hadn't
Understood by Diego De Silva, The Nun by Simonetta Agnello Hornby,
and The Path to Hope by Stephane Hessel and Edgar Morin (Other
Press, 2012). He is also a freelance journalist who reviews for the
Boston Globe and the Washington Post.
"Edoardo Nesi has written a short memoir of great charm, for all
its sadness a pleasure to read... Mr. Nesi's sense of loss will
touch hearts much farther afield, wherever the West's world-class
industries have fallen to free trade and the Internet."--"The New
York Times
""This unique book--part memoir, part argument for the reformation
of the global financial system--tumbles out of itself on the page,
and reading it was an equally propulsive experience. It rhapsodizes
and slaps its chest in true Italian style, makes frequent allusions
with a disarming bluntness (to Machiavelli, to Richard Ford, to
Paul Newman movies), and always has something to say. I finished
and instantly went back to re-read certain pages."" --"John
Jeremiah Sullivan, author of" Pulphead "and writer for the" New
York Times Magazine
"
"Who would have thought that memoir and polemic could work together
so well? A totally absorbing story, and a portrait of modern
Italy." --Sarah Bakewell, author of "How to Live"
"A searing indictment of globalization's failures, and the
inability of politicians and pundits to consider its impact on real
lives...much of the book is sad, honest, and biting; overall it is
an important work." --"Publishers Weekly
""We all know that globalization has disrupted industries around
the world, but we don't always connect disruption to the
destruction of ways of life--the social fabric that globalization
can rend and tear. "Story of My People," by Edoardo Nesi, a polemic
fueled by grief and rage at
the devastating effect of globalization on the Italian textile
industry, makes that connection tangible."
--"Strategy+Business"
"At once a memoir, a requiem, and a work of social and literary
criticism about the toll this shift took on his city and
psyche...fiercely angry, conflicted, and often beautifully
written." --"Bookforum"
""Story of My People" is one of those knockout punches that
literature throws at the world every now and then
"Who would have thought that memoir and polemic could work together
so well? A totally absorbing story, and a portrait of modern
Italy." --Sarah Bakewell, author of "How to Live"
"A searing indictment of globalization's failures, and the
inability of politicians and pundits to consider its impact on real
lives...much of the book is sad, honest, and biting; overall it is
an important work." --"Publishers Weekly"
""Story of My People" is one of those knockout punches that
literature throws at the world every now and then" --Sandro
Veronesi
""Story of My People" is a well-told story but also an eloquent and
pained wail about loss. Globalization has swallowed up the
artisans, the families and the beautiful fabrics at the heart of
Prato's weaving industry, and a world has unraveled like a skein of
yarn. While Nesi clearly understands the economics and even the
inevitability of this transition for Italy's family manufacturers,
he will not let this world disappear without describing it for the
rest of us. A business and family can do everything right and still
have everything go wrong. This is an important, poetic, and
personal work of industrial history." --Pietra Rivoli, author of
"The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy"
"This unique book--part memoir, part argument for the reformation
of the global financial system--tumbles out of itself on the page,
and reading it was an equally propulsive experience. It rhapsodizes
and slaps its chest in true Italian style, makes frequent allusions
with a disarming bluntness (to Machiavelli, to Richard Ford, to
Paul Newman movies), and always has something to say. I finished
and instantly went back to re-read certain pages." --John Jeremiah
Sullivan, author of "Pulphead "and writer for the "New York Times
Magazine"
"A remarkable evocation of the vanished world of artisan capitalism
in Tuscany, swept away by hurricane globalization. 'Why should this
destruction be?' asks the author and former
"A remarkable evocation of the vanished world of artisan capitalism
in Tuscany, swept away by hurricane globalization. 'Why should this
destruction be?' asks the author and former owner of a small family
textile business, in a mingled cry of pain and anger." --Robert
Skidelsky, author of "How Much is Enough?: Money and the Good
Life"
"Who would have thought that memoir and polemic could work together
so well? A totally absorbing story, and a portrait of modern
Italy." --Sarah Bakewell, author of "How to Live"
""Story of My People" is one of those knockout punches that
literature throws at the world every now and then" --Sandro
Veronesi
"Nesi is one of the few writers that have succeeded in depicting
the dark underbelly of globalism." --Luciano Lanna, "Secolo
d'Italia"
"A beautiful and touching book ... Whether or not you agree with
its message, it has one undeniable virtue: it makes you think."
--Giorgio Marabini, "Sabato Sera"
""Story of My People" is a transcendent song, both epic and
lyrical, on industrial and human labor." --Antonio Pennacchi
"Do you know what I would do if I became leader of the Democratic
Party? I would take this courageous book and turn it into a chapter
of my political project. "Story of My People" is about the love of
a people for its roots, a community for its land, and a city for
its industry." --Massimo Giannini
""The History of My People" is one of those knockout punches that
literature throws at the world every now and then" --Sandro
Veronesi
"Nesi is one of the few writers that have succeeded in depicting
the dark underbelly of globalism." --Luciano Lanna, "Secolo
d'Italia"
"A beautiful and touching book ... Whether or not you agree with
its message, it has one undeniable virtue: it makes you think."
--Giorgio Marabini, "Sabato Sera"
""The History of My People" is a transcendent song, both epic and
lyrical, on industrial and human labor." --Antonio Pennacchi
"Do you know what I would do if I became leader of the Democratic
Party? I would take this courageous book and turn it into a chapter
of my political project. "The History of My People" is about the
love of a people for its roots, a community for its land, and a
city for its industry." --Massimo Giannini
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