“More than a [love] story it was a short story, a discount flyer.”
Fresh and fun book. Despite being released in 2023, it remains current in many passages in which it addresses the hypocrisies of contemporary society, and we think it can remain so for many more years to come.
A very useful text to detach from the heaviness of everyday life, and give yourself more than one smile. Understanding that you don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, and this applies to all ages. The title is certainly the best summary of the entire book.
Through reading we had the opportunity to get to know the person beyond the character, in his fragilities and contradictions, like every human being. A continuous story from his childhood in the family, when he was the only female child among many brothers, to the evolution of his relationship with his mother to that with his boyfriends over the years. The first part is funny in which he tells his attempt to improve himself through various courses ranging from yoga to crochet, from Latin American dance to femininity dance. Needless to say, we fully found ourselves.
Of our strong appreciation and interest, the reflections on political correctness. Starting from her work as a comedian and author, Sarnataro asks herself, and asks us, how far her art can go, why some words and topics have become forbidden fruits over time, where those who pick them risk being expelled from Eden. If you look closely, clearing the use of some words, blunts the weapons of those who make a career out of racial, gender, religious, social discrimination, etc. within some political, television and even corporate circles. After all, as someone more important than us has already said, the word “dog” does not bite, it depends on the use that is made of that word, and on the intelligence of those who listen to it.
A reading that we recommend to dedicate an afternoon of serenity to yourself after a hard day, to go back to smiling at life.
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Mary Sarnataro, La manutenzione della stronza, Solferino, Milano, 2023