This one oozes Italian ambience. Set in Naples and featuring local dialect as a recurring theme, this novel is by turns harsh and tender with a protagonist who is bitter and sweet, maddening and charming, generously loving and narcissistic, self -aware while being hopelessly naïve. Self-delusional and given to flights of fantasy he imagines himself a knight in armor, an irresistible lover, a genius and an oppressed but heroic victim of social prejudice. He is, in fact a spoiled grandson of a doting Nona who defends him at every turn and favors him over his siblings in all things, in spite of the fact that he, while loving her in his own way thinks she is ugly and unworthy. Complex and contradictory behavior that sets the pattern for his life.

He conceives an impossible love for the little girl across the street who dances on her balcony enticing him but never speaking to him – close and distant, a source of exquisite agony. After having engaged in a dangerous game with his best friend to prove his bravery he is treated to a few words exchanged at the public drinking fountain that shape his perceptions for a lifetime.

He fantasizes about the Girl from Milan throughout his lifetime, allowing her to supplant real-life lovers, career ambitions and personal endeavors of all sorts, seldom to his benefit. His late-life discoveries force him to rethink all that he is and has done, resulting in a philosophical epiphany before the end of his time on the planet.

Cleverly written and with a wry sensibility this short tale is rich with detail of Neapolitan life and especially the importance to its citizens of the neighborhood and its unique patois. Language is a large part of the narrative, to the extent the narrator becomes a student and eventually an expert in decoding dialects and their deeper meanings. Words and writing are a clear theme, a positive feature for those who love books and reading. Starnone is beloved by his readers and this book exemplifies the qualities that engender this feeling.