The Italian Riveter: Postcard from Turin by Giuseppe Culicchia

Whenever I think about Italian literature from my hometown of Turin, I’m faced with some legendary figures. The city’s most famous writers in the last century were, of course, Italo Calvino and Primo Levi, both appreciated for different reasons (not only in Italy but also abroad) and their legacy remains very strong. However, it’s impossible to forget the magical pairing of Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini, who in La donna della domenica depicted our town as it was in the 1970s, together with an underworld full of unforgettable characters that has now almost disappeared.

I should also point out the best book concerning Turin when it was our country’s ‘Motown’. Written by a poet and a writer who lived and worked here – at Olivetti and Fiat – but who was born and raised in Urbino, Le mosche del capitale by Paolo Volponi remains a real masterpiece.

From more recent years, I must mention Luca Rastello and his novel Piove all’insù, probably the best book ever written about terrorism and the beginning of the social changes that have occurred in Italy.

By Giuseppe Culicchia

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