Alessandro Baricco (; born 25 January 1958) is an Italian writer, director and performer. His novels have been translated into a number of languages.

Early life, family and education

Baricco was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He has earned degrees in philosophy (under

Gianni Vattimo Gianteresio Vattimo (; 4 January 1936 – 19 September 2023) was an Italian philosopher and politician. Biography Gianteresio Vattimo was born in Turin, Piedmont. He studied philosophy under the existentialist Luigi Pareyson at the Universit ...

) and in piano.

Career

Baricco published essays on

music criticism '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

: ''Il genio in fuga'' (1988) on

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

, and ''L'anima di Hegel e le mucche del Wisconsin'' ("

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

's Soul and the Cows of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

", 1992) on the relation between music and

modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular Society, socio-Culture, cultural Norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the ...

. He subsequently worked as music critic for ''

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

'' and ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'', and hosted talk shows on Rai Tre. Baricco debuted as a novelist with ''Castelli di rabbia'' (translated as ''Lands of Glass'') in 1991. In 1993, he co-founded a creative writing school in Turin, naming it Scuola Holden after

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger ( ; January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel '' The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger published several short stories in '' Story'' magazine in 1940, before serving in World Wa ...

Holden Caulfield Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison", and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher in the Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He is most famous f ...

. The Scuola Holden hosts a variety of courses on narrative techniques including screenwriting, journalism, novels and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

. In the following years, his fame grew throughout Europe, with his works topping the Italian and French best-seller lists. Larger recognition followed the adaptation of his theatrical monologue '' Novecento'' into the film ''

The Legend of 1900 ''The Legend of 1900'' (, "The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean") is a 1998 Italian English-language drama film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, and starring Tim Roth, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Mélanie Thierry. It was Tornatore's first Englis ...

'', directed by

Giuseppe Tornatore Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema.Katz, Ephraim, "Italy," ''The Film Encyclopedia'' (New York: HarperRes ...

. He has also worked with the French band

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

, releasing " City Reading", a mix of the band's music with Baricco's reading of his novel ''City''. Baricco directed the critically acclaimed film ''Lezione 21'' on

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's '' Ninth Symphony''.

Personal life

Baricco resides in his hometown, Turin. He has two sons. He and his girlfriend Gloria Campaner live together. In January 2022, Baricco announced he had been diagnosed with

chronic myelomonocytic leukemia Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a type of leukemia, which are cancers of the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow. In adults, blood cells are formed in the bone marrow, by a process that is known as haematopoiesis. In CMML, there are in ...

.Alessandro Baricco on Instagram January 22 2022
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Bibliography

Novels

* ''Castelli di rabbia'', Rizzoli 1991, Tascabili Bompiani 1994; '' Lands of Glass'', Penguin 1992. Awarded with Prix Médicis étranger – France * ''Oceano Mare'', Rizzoli 1993; ''

Ocean Sea The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and A ...

'', , 1993. Awarded with 'Palazzo al Bosco' — Italy * ''Novecento. Un monologo'', Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, Milan, 1994; '' Novecento'', 1994. * ''Seta'', Rizzoli 1996; ''

Silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

'', , 1996 (See ''

'' for the film adaptation.) * ''

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

'' (original title), (edition in English), Rizzoli 1999 * ''

Constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellations were likely defin ...

'' (original title), 1999 * ''Senza sangue'', Rizzoli 2002; '' Without Blood'' , 2002 (Also published in revised form in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

) * ''Questa storia'', Fandango 2005 * ''Emmaus'', Feltrinelli 2009 * ''Mr Gwyn'', Feltrinelli 2011 * ''Tre volte all'alba'', Feltrinelli 2012 * ''Smith & Wesson'', Feltrinelli 2014 * ''La Sposa giovane'', Feltrinelli 2015; ''The Young Bride'' , Europa Editions 2016 * ''Abel'', Feltrinelli 2023

Theatre

* ''Totem'', a literary and musical happening staged in various locations throughout Italy with varying structure and contents. Mostly it consisted of a two-night theatrical event in which Baricco himself, helped by director Gabriele Vacis, actor Eugenio Allegri and musician Daniele Sepe, would read and comment on bits of literature from all centuries and countries, accompanying them with music. In 2001 Rizzoli published the video of ''Totem'' recorded in Milan in 1997. * ''Novecento'', Feltrinelli 1994; ''The Legend of 1900'' (1994) – originally a monologue for theatre staged by director Gabriele Vacis, adapted in 1998 into a film by

, '' La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano'', with music composed by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

. * ''Davila Roa'', staged only once by director

Luca Ronconi Luca Ronconi (8 March 1933 – 21 February 2015) was an Italian actor, theatre director, and opera director. Biography Ronconi was born in Sousse, Tunisia. After growing up in Tunisia, where his mother was a school teacher, Ronconi graduated ...

. Reportedly a huge fiasco, it was never published in written form. * ''Omero, Iliade'', Feltrinelli 2004; ''An Iliad'', Vintage International 2004 ( ) – a rewriting of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' consisting of 24 chapters, each telling a part of the story through the eyes and words of a prominent character in the poem. The theatrical event from which the book originated was staged only twice due to its logistic difficulties: it spanned over three nights during which the best contemporary Italian actors would impersonate one character each, eight per night. *''Palamedes - the cancelled hero,'' 2016; a theatrical event about Palamedes translated from ancient Greek by Andrea Marcolongo and staged by Baricco himself and the Italian actress Valeria Solarino.

Cinema

* ''Partita Spagnola'', Audino Editore 2003 (screenplay never shot). * '' Lecture 21'', 2008 (written and directed).

Collected short writings

* ''Barnum. Cronache dal Grande Show'', Feltrinelli 1995 * ''Barnum 2. Altre cronache del Grande Show'', Feltrinelli 1998 * ''Next. Piccolo libro sulla globalizzazione e il mondo che verrà'', Feltrinelli 2002 * ''Il nuovo Barnum'', Feltrinelli 2016

Essays

* ''Il genio in fuga. Sul teatro musicale di Rossini'', Il Melangolo 1988, Einaudi 1997 * ''L'anima di Hegel e le mucche del Wisconsin'', Garzanti 1992 * ''I Barbari'', La Repubblica 2006 * ''The Game'', 2018

Awards

* Prix Médicis étranger — France * Selezione Campiello — Italy * Viareggio – Italy * Palazzo al Bosco – Italy

References

External links

Alessandro Baricco
at the Berlin International Literature Festival 2002/03 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baricco, Alessandro 1958 births Living people Writers from Turin Italian dramatists and playwrights Italian essayists Italian journalists Italian male journalists Italian literary critics Italian male short story writers Prix Médicis étranger winners Viareggio Prize winners University of Turin alumni Italian male essayists Italian male novelists 20th-century Italian male writers 21st-century Italian male writers 20th-century Italian novelists 21st-century Italian novelists Italian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian short story writers 21st-century Italian short story writers 20th-century Italian essayists 21st-century Italian essayists Theatre people from Turin