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Why is it, wonders a character in Elena Ferrante’s new novel, “The Lying Life of Adults,” that when talking about sex, one adjective will never suffice? “Why does it take many — embarrassing, bland, tragic, happy, pleasant, repulsive — and never one at a time but all together?” I can think of one word copious enough. The name Ferrante — the pseudon...

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L’Amica Geniale e Gomorra sono le serie tv italiane più amate dagli americani. L’Amica Geniale continua a riscuotere successo in Italia come nel resto del mondo. La settimana scorsa erano uscite le prime puntate della seconda stagione in Inghilterra che avevano spinto alcuni giornali a lodare la serie, ora un nuovo gradimento arriva addirittura dal...

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Americans rarely venture out into the world of non-English-speaking cinema and television, sadly missing out on a lot of high-quality productions just because of the intimidating language barrier. This was pointed out by Parasite director Bong Joon-ho in his 2020 Academy Award acceptance speech, he then addressed American viewers challenging them t...

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On Nov. 6, 2019, months before the coronavirus swept Italy, customers lined up outside bookstores there waiting for The Lying Life of Adults, the new novel from Elena Ferrante, whose Neapolitan quartet has become an international phenomenon. Book groups across the country held vigils reading aloud from previous works by their favorite author. Meanw...

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Few Italian novels have recently been able to cross national borders, without losing their expressive power. The so-called ‘Neapolitan novels’ written by Elena Ferrante — on which the successful TV series produced by Rai and HBO is based — have certainly been capable to do so. My Brilliant Friend’s tetralogy’s uniqueness lies not only in the powerf...

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Mon, April 13, 2020. 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM EDT. Our Brilliant Friends - After Dinner Book Club and Watch Party. To benefit #SaveIndieBookstores. Join Elena Ferrante’s translator Ann Goldstein, Europa’s Editor in Chief Michael Reynolds, writer and poet Alexander Chee, and writer and producer Sarah Treem (The Affair) for an informal online conversation...

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After the worldwide success of “My Brilliant Friend,” the Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante, and subsequent TV adaptation of the same name, the island of Ischia, where some of the scenes are set, has started organizing My Brilliant Friend-themed tours to show visitors the real locations appearing on the  TV series.  Ischia is off the coast in the...

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The Italian Department at Georgetown University, in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, presents a conference by Prof. Tiziana de Rogatis, Università per Stranieri di Siena, Elena Ferrante’s Key Words: Examining the Neapolitan Quartet. The conference is conceived as an Ariadne's thread of key words, which,...

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Naples in the 1950s: Lenù e Lila are two girls who become friends in a poor neighborhood in the extreme eastern outskirts of the port city. Life was hard and they grew up together as best friends. At times they grew apart to then reunite and become even closer. Their story is told in four books written between 2011 and 2014 by Elena Ferrante: the f...

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At my local book shop, Todo Modo, co-owner Pietro Torrigiani is stockpiling copies of Elena Ferrante’s new novel, “La vita bugiarda degli adulti.” The book, which will arrive in the United States as “The Lying Life of Adults” in June, is flying off the shelves - not just at eclectic indie shops like Todo Modo, but also at supermarkets and highway r...

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