The Natural Disorder of Things: A Novel [Paperback]

Andrea Canobbio (Author), Abigail Asher (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2007

Claudio Fratta is a garden designer at the height of his career; a naturally solitary man, a tender, playful companion to his nephews, and a considerate colleague. But under his amiable exterior simmers a quiet rage, and a desire to punish the Mafioso who bankrupted his father and ruined his family. And when an enigmatic, alluring woman becomes entangled in Claudio's life after a near-fatal car crash, his desire for her draws him ever closer to satisfying that long-held fantasy of revenge.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] remarkable story of regret, revenge, and acceptance . . . A mystery, a romance, and more, this suspenseful novel builds to a climax that will thoroughly engross the reader."--Library Journal
 
"Reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, [The Natural Disorder of Things is] a haunting, gorgeously evocative and harrowingly intense chronicle of a man obsessed."--Kirkus Reviews
 
"A compelling, entirely adult literary thriller."--Entertainment Weekly (grade: A)
 
"Intelligently engrossing . . . Canobbio's narrative comes to a breakneck, virtually cinematic conclusion that knots all the plot's threads into a convincing, though shockingly unexpected, dramatic conclusion, giving way to a reflection too bittersweetly true to reveal."--The Los Angeles Times

About the Author

Andrea Canobbio was born in Turin, Italy. An editor at the publishing house Einaudi, he is the author of the novels Vasi cinesi, Traslochi, Padri di padri, and Indivisibili. This is his first book to be published in America.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1st edition (July 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312426348
• ISBN-13: 978-0312426347
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,683,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a pleasant but not a memorable read, October 28, 2006

By 

Robert J. Piro (Houston, Tx USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Natural Disorder of Things: A Novel (Hardcover)

It seems that modern Italian literature has not kept pace with other European countries----even eastern European writers are being translated and published here. I had hoped that Andrea Cobbio might be about to change that trend. I started the book with high hopes but its meandering story line, confusing and not quite developed characters, and unsatisfacory ending were a disappointment. It is about a fat and apparantly unattractive landscape architect's attraction to a very strange and shadowy widow of a patrician patriarch. Motivtation is murky and it just never pulls together. I was never tempted to abandon it because it was a pleasant though not very rewarding read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beneath the surface..., July 22, 2008

By 

R. S. Chaney "deBruno" (Kentucky, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Natural Disorder of Things: A Novel (Hardcover)

I loved this book. I hope more of Canobbio's work will be translated to english. It is a darkly entertaining and engrossing read. The author does an excellent job of showing the chaotic inner depths of "Claudio" a garden designer living a seemingly ordinary life.

3.0 out of 5 stars Order and Disorder in Italy, November 24, 2011

By 

James W. Fonseca (Zanesville, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Natural Disorder of Things: A Novel (Paperback)

The Natural Disorder of Things is about an Italian garden designer. He gets in over his head when he becomes romantically involved with an upper-class woman who is a widow connected to a strange aristocratic family with a lot of mysterious goings-on. There is a bit of a mystery involving the gardener witnessing a murder where someone is deliberately run down in the rain in a mall parking lot. Our garden designer is much more successful at imposing order upon the landscape than he is at putting his own life in order. The interplay of modern vs. classical going on in his life is reflected in his garden designs. The book, translated from the Italian, has a lot of local color of modern (1990's) suburban and rural Italy.