I'll Steal You Away [Hardcover]

Niccolo Ammaniti (Author), Jonathan Hunt (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2006

Italian literary superstar Niccolò Ammaniti’s debut novel, I’m Not Scared, prompted gushing praise, hit international best-seller lists, and was made into a smash indie film. With his highly anticipated follow-up, Ammaniti takes his unparalleled empathy for children, his scythe-sharp observations, and his knack for building tension to a whole new level. In a tiny Italian village, a young boy named Pietro is growing up tormented by bullies and ignored by his parents. When an aging playboy, Graziano Biglia, returns to town, a change is in the air: Pietro decides to take on the bullies, his lonely teacher Flora finds romance with the town’s prodigal son, and the inept janitor at the school proclaims his love for his favorite prostitute. But the village isn’t ready for such change, and when Graziano seduces and forgets Flora, both she and Pietro’s tentative hopes seem crushed forever. With great tenderness, Ammaniti shines light on the heart-wrenching failures and quiet redemptions of ordinary people trying to live extraordinary lives. I’ll Steal You Away is a fresh and classic story of a boy learning to be a man that delivers on the promise of Ammaniti’s acclaimed debut.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ammaniti, author of novel-turned-film I'm Not Scared (2003), offers another tale of smalltown southern Italy, this time juxtaposing the growing pains of 12-year-old Pietro Moroni, a "small for his age" kid frequently targeted by bullies, with the romantic prowling of Graziano Biglia, a washed-up flamenco guitarist who returns to his hometown after having his heart broken by a stripper. The novel, narrated in a quasi call-and-response ("His life is sex, drugs and... flamenco. But what's wrong with that? Sure, many people would hate a life like mine. Drifting. Rootless. But I like it") feels awkward at first, but once the reader settles in, Hunt's translation adds welcome depth to seemingly simple folk: Pietro, hungry for social acceptance, gets tricked into vandalizing his school and must suffer the consequences; Graziano, forever scheming an entrée to the big time, loves and leaves skittish schoolteacher Flora Palmieri. Flora, burdened with caring for her sick mother and ill-equipped to deal with the intense fallout from her relationship with Graziano, quickly falls apart once her seducer disappears. Chilling and intimate, Ammaniti's work brings life to a deceptively quiet town and its wealth of eclectic and unsettling residents. (Sept.)
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From The New Yorker

Ammaniti's previous book, "I'm Not Scared," which was made into a movie, used to memorable effect the point of view of a terrified young boy. This novel centers on Pietro Moroni, a skinny, introspective boy in a small village, who is taunted at school and ignored at home. When his favorite teacher, a spinster with problems of her own, lets him down, his anger—at the world, at his loutish parents and his hopeless brother—combusts. The story of the boy and his teacher intersects with that of a local playboy, a ne'er-do-well newly returned to the village, whose gargantuan narcissism cannot ward off a dawning realization of his life's errors. Ammaniti beautifully evokes the lopsided streets of an Italian backwater and, especially in Pietro's surprising friendship with the prettiest girl in the village, the shadow life of childhood.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Canongate U.S. (August 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841958247
• ISBN-13: 978-1841958248
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #661,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heat in a small town, October 11, 2006

By 

Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I'll Steal You Away (Hardcover)

Niccolo Ammaniti's "new" book, "I'll Steal You Away" is a melange of small but very passionate vignettes concerning a cross section of people in Ischiano Scalo, an Italian Peyton Place. His protagonists are one Pietro Moroni, an uncertain pre-teen who carries the responsibility of the world on his shoulders and Graziano Biglia, a forty-something ne'er-do-well. Their lives are largely connected with Flora Palmieri, a local school teacher on whom Pietro seeks revenge for failing him at school and with whom Graziano has a whirlwind courtship lasting one night.

I'll Steal You Away" is "new" in the sense that it was written before his wonderful 2003 book, "I'm Not Scared" (after which a gratifying movie was made) and translated by Jonathan Hunt (no relation to me) earlier this year. Ammaniti's attention to detail and his often graphic descriptions of characters in sensual scenes are in abundance in "I'll Steal You Away". He knows how to tell a story. However, this earlier book suffers from being too long where "I'm Not Scared" was of an apt length. While one of the aims of the book is to transfer a sense of worth and power to Pietro from Graziano during an encounter where the youngster is being attacked by his peers and Graziano comes to Pietro's aid, it nonetheless takes almost the entire length of the book to get to that point.

Hunt's very British translation makes for a fun sidelight (at least for American readers!) but Ammaniti shines in the force of his narrative delivery. It's a good book but some editing would have made "I'll Steal You Away" an even better one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, December 7, 2007

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Guy R. Hearn "Grrr" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I'll Steal You Away (Hardcover)

In "I'll Steal You Away" Ammaniti gives us two intersecting tales of people trying to escape the deadness and brutality of Italian provincial life, interspersing these stories with cameos, walk ons and diversions from a range of hilariously drawn characters.

And whilst I would agree that the one of these narrative threads - the story of Graziano Biglia, ageing Lothario and charicature of the Latin stud, desperately trying to conjure up a respectable future as the local boy made good, whilst being led by the nose by the skittish, gold digging nude dancer Erica - is frequently hilarious, embarrasingly well observed, and always diverting, ultimately this is an entertainment. Such a cartoon is Biglia, that it is hard to be anything other than amused by his sufferings, or those of Flora, drawn reluctantly into his web thanks to the inhibition-lowering effects of MDMA.

But in his other narrative thread, Ammaniti has created one of the great adoloscent characters in literature. I challenge anyone who had a less than perfect childhood - and that's most of us - not to relate strongly to Pietro Moroni. Pietro, 12 years old but small for his age, struggles with a dysfunctional family dominated by an abusive alcoholic father and with bullying and victimisation from the local toughs. His only salvation comes from being the best friend and soulmate of Gloria, the most beautiful and feisty girl in town. But as Pietro hits adolescence that plank is also becoming shaky, as friendship starts to turn into something else, with all the uncertainties and fears that brings.

Pietro is swept along on a wave of events that he has no way of controlling, let down by all the adults in his life, only able to turn to the always supportive, but not always wise, Gloria. Ultimately, as his narrative crosses paths with that of Biglia, he takes a series of unpredictable and shocking actions to take control of his life.

A book that can be hilarious, picaresque, and profound simultaneously is a rare thing indeed - and Pietro and Gloria's story in particular will stay with you for a long time. And for anyone who remembers the fear, pain, occasional rapture and general heightening of the senses of your first love / first crush, this book will stir up feelings and memories you've long forgotten.

Deliberately or not, Ammaniti has left plenty of room for a sequel and personally I hope he writes it. But for now, I heartily recommend this book to anyone with a heart.

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll Steal You Away, January 4, 2007

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Alan C. Iannacito (Littleton, Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I'll Steal You Away (Hardcover)

Only read this if you like conflict, unrelenting quirky characters, bullies, mischief, sex and a carefull sad ending.

A humorous yet sad story, and entirely believable. Translated from the Italian by a Brit., I'LL STEAL YOU AWAY," is delightful in context and hilarious in a really good translation.

The author, Niccolo Ammaniti, could have written this story around my own Italian-American family. Some of the characters and scenes mirror the things I have seen in my early years in a similar ethnic neighborhood.

I'm anxious to read more from this author.