Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas (Paperback)

by Dario Fo (Author), Ron Jenkins (Translator) "Faster! Faster! Let go the moorings!..." (more)
Key Phrases: gli indios, della pioggia, nella foresta, Johan Padan, Holy Man, Santo Domingo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature, Dario Fo is one of the world's most important contemporary playwrights, forging subversive comedy, clowning, unusual linguistic experimentation, and brilliant playwriting into a comedy of complete originality. In a first-person monologue that bends and mutates language and historical fact, Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas is a brilliant, vividly imagined retelling of Christopher Columbus's voyage to America. Told by a last-minute conscript assigned to clean the shipboard pig stalls, who goes on to be adopted by a tribe of Indians and help them fight conquistadors, it posits a riotous alternate history in which the dynamics between native and white, male and female, history and comedy are never what they seem.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (April 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802137776
• ISBN-13: 978-0802137777
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,484,976 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas, December 10, 2001

By	Aaron (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Are you ready to sit back, relax and laugh a lot? Well, if you are, there is not a better book for you to read than Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas. Being that this piece of fiction is a fast read, it is great for a wide range of readers. From the young to the elderly, I'm sure everyone will see the humor. Behind the humor lies a story that will captivate many. Once you start reading this book you will realize that it is not very complex. It is almost a one character story with a few off stage characters. Dario Fo, the fantastic author of this book manages to fit one man's journey to America hundreds of years ago into under 150 pages. The novel contains humor, action, sex and many other concepts that help make any reader enjoy a book. Once you start, you will not put it down, and I do not wonder at all how Fo managed to win the Nobel Prize for literature. His ability to take a rather bland topic and spice it up is amazing. The ability to deeply describe scenes where Johan is alone or with another woman is amazing. He created a character with a strong voice and one very interesting journey. Johan meets almost everyone: from the men and women around Europe to the almost cave like Indians he encounters when he reaches America. This story will leave you spellbound and screaming for more!