Born Twice

(Paperback)

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Description

When a breach birth leaves Paulo severely disabled, his father, the articulate, unsentimental Professor Frigerio, struggles to come to terms with his son's condition. Face to face with his own limitations, Frigerio confronts the strange way society around him handles Paolo's handicaps and observes his surprising gifts. In spare, deeply affecting episodes, the professor of language explores the nuanced boundaries between "normal" and "disabled" worlds. A remarkable memoir of fathering, winner of the 2001 Strega Prize, Italy's most prestigious literary honor, Born Twice is noted Italian author Guiseppe Pontiggia's American debut. Sometimes meditative, often humorous, and always probing, Pontiggia's haunting characters linger and resound long after the book is done.

Reviews

[S]ubversive, deeply affecting . . . hard to shake. The San Francisco Chronicle

[A]rtful . . . . [L]ays bare the . . . stakes in representing the disabled.The New York Times Book Review

[C]ompassionate, deeply moral.Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Born in Como in 1934, novelist and essayist Giuseppe Pontiggia was editor of Verri and co-editor of L'Almanacco dello Specchio. He is the best-selling and award-winning author of numerous novels and a collection of essays. Born Twice was awarded a Strega Prize, Italy's most prestigious literary award, in 2001, and is his first major work to appear in English.