My earliest reading memory
I was a boy, maybe six or seven, stuck in bed with some childhood illness. Somehow, The Black Corsair, by Emilio Salgari, Italian writer of adventure stories for kids, appeared in my hands. A vast magical world opened up to my eyes. I do not think that Salgari has been much translated into English, and I am sorry for the British boys and girls, so deprived.
My favourite book growing up
The poetry collection I Canti, by Giacomo Leopardi, my preferred Italian poet and intellectual. My own adolescent despair resonated with his. The enchantment of his lyrics was a rare consolation in my solitary adolescence. Leopardi was the brother of my soul.
