Story of my People: Essays and Social Criticism on Italy's Economy

(Paperback)

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Winner of the 2011 Strega Prize, this blend of essay, social criticism, and memoir is a striking portrait of the effects of globalization on Italy's declining economy. Winner of the 2011 Strega Prize, this blend of essay, social criticism, and memoir is a striking portrait of the effects of globalization on Italy's declining economy. Starting from his family's textile factory in Prato, Tuscany, Edoardo Nesi examines the recent shifts in Italy's manufacturing industry. Only one generation ago, Prato was a thriving industrial center that prided itself on craftsmanship and quality. But during the last decade, cheaply made goods-produced overseas or in Italy by poorly paid immigrants-saturated the market, making it impossible for Italian companies to keep up. In 2004 his family was forced to sell the textile factory. How this could have happened Nesi asks, and what are the wider repercussions of losing businesses like his family's, especially for Italian culture Story of My People is a denouncement of big business, corrupt politicians, the arrogance of economists, and cheap manufacturing. It's a must-read for anyone seeking insight into the financial crisis that's striking Europe today.

Reviews

"Edoardo Nesi has written a short memoir of great charm, for all its sadness a pleasure to read... Mr. Nesi's sense of loss will touch hearts much farther afield, wherever the West's world-class industries have fallen to free trade and the Internet."--"The New York Times
""This unique book--part memoir, part argument for the reformation of the global financial system--tumbles out of itself on the page, and reading it was an equally propulsive experience. It rhapsodizes and slaps its chest in true Italian style, makes frequent allusions with a disarming bluntness (to Machiavelli, to Richard Ford, to Paul Newman movies), and always has something to say. I finished and instantly went back to re-read certain pages."" --"John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of" Pulphead "and writer for the" New York Times Magazine
"
"Who would have thought that memoir and polemic could work together so well A totally absorbing story, and a portrait of modern Italy." --Sarah Bakewell, author of "How to Live"
"A searing indictment of globalization's failures, and the inability of politicians and pundits to consider its impact on real lives...much of the book is sad, honest, and biting; overall it is an important work." --"Publishers Weekly
""We all know that globalization has disrupted industries around the world, but we don't always connect disruption to the destruction of ways of life--the social fabric that globalization can rend and tear. "Story of My People," by Edoardo Nesi, a polemic fueled by grief and rage at
the devastating effect of globalization on the Italian textile industry, makes that connection tangible." --"Strategy+Business"
"At once a memoir, a requiem, and a work of social and literary criticism about the toll this shift took on his city and psyche...fiercely angry, conflicted, and often beautifully written." --"Bookforum"
""Story of My People" is one of those knockout punches that literature throws at the world every now and then
"Who would have thought that memoir and polemic could work together so well A totally absorbing story, and a portrait of modern Italy." --Sarah Bakewell, author of "How to Live"
"A searing indictment of globalization's failures, and the inability of politicians and pundits to consider its impact on real lives...much of the book is sad, honest, and biting; overall it is an important work." --"Publishers Weekly"
""Story of My People" is one of those knockout punches that literature throws at the world every now and then" --Sandro Veronesi
""Story of My People" is a well-told story but also an eloquent and pained wail about loss. Globalization has swallowed up the artisans, the families and the beautiful fabrics at the heart of Prato's weaving industry, and a world has unraveled like a skein of yarn. While Nesi clearly understands the economics and even the inevitability of this transition for Italy's family manufacturers, he will not let this world disappear without describing it for the rest of us. A business and family can do everything right and still have everything go wrong. This is an important, poetic, and personal work of industrial history." --Pietra Rivoli, author of "The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy"
"This unique book--part memoir, part argument for the reformation of the global financial system--tumbles out of itself on the page, and reading it was an equally propulsive experience. It rhapsodizes and slaps its chest in true Italian style, makes frequent allusions with a disarming bluntness (to Machiavelli, to Richard Ford, to Paul Newman movies), and always has something to say. I finished and instantly went back to re-read certain pages." --John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of "Pulphead "and writer for the "New York Times Magazine"
"A remarkable evocation of the vanished world of artisan capitalism in Tuscany, swept away by hurricane globalization. 'Why should this destruction be' asks the author and former
"A remarkable evocation of the vanished world of artisan capitalism in Tuscany, swept away by hurricane globalization. 'Why should this destruction be' asks the author and former owner of a small family textile business, in a mingled cry of pain and anger." --Robert Skidelsky, author of "How Much is Enough: Money and the Good Life"

"Who would have thought that memoir and polemic could work together so well A totally absorbing story, and a portrait of modern Italy." --Sarah Bakewell, author of "How to Live"

""Story of My People" is one of those knockout punches that literature throws at the world every now and then" --Sandro Veronesi

"Nesi is one of the few writers that have succeeded in depicting the dark underbelly of globalism." --Luciano Lanna, "Secolo d'Italia"

"A beautiful and touching book ... Whether or not you agree with its message, it has one undeniable virtue: it makes you think." --Giorgio Marabini, "Sabato Sera"

""Story of My People" is a transcendent song, both epic and lyrical, on industrial and human labor." --Antonio Pennacchi

"Do you know what I would do if I became leader of the Democratic Party I would take this courageous book and turn it into a chapter of my political project. "Story of My People" is about the love of a people for its roots, a community for its land, and a city for its industry." --Massimo Giannini
""The History of My People" is one of those knockout punches that literature throws at the world every now and then" --Sandro Veronesi

"Nesi is one of the few writers that have succeeded in depicting the dark underbelly of globalism." --Luciano Lanna, "Secolo d'Italia"

"A beautiful and touching book ... Whether or not you agree with its message, it has one undeniable virtue: it makes you think." --Giorgio Marabini, "Sabato Sera"

""The History of My People" is a transcendent song, both epic and lyrical, on industrial and human labor." --Antonio Pennacchi

"Do you know what I would do if I became leader of the Democratic Party I would take this courageous book and turn it into a chapter of my political project. "The History of My People" is about the love of a people for its roots, a community for its land, and a city for its industry." --Massimo Giannini

Author Bio

Edoardo Nesi is an Italian writer, filmmaker, and translator. He began his career translating the work of such authors as Bruce Chatwin, Malcolm Lowry, Stephen King, and Quentin Tarantino. He has written six novels, one of which, L'et dell'oro, was a finalist for the 2005 Strega Prize and a winner of the Bruno Cavallini Prize. He wrote and directed the film Fughe da fermo (Fandango, 2001), based on his novel of the same name, and has translated David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. Antony Shugaar is an author and translator. His most recent publication, written with the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, is I Lie for a Living, and he is the coauthor of Latitude Zero. His most recent translations include I Hadn't Understood by Diego De Silva, The Nun by Simonetta Agnello Hornby, and The Path to Hope by Stephane Hessel and Edgar Morin (Other Press, 2012). He is also a freelance journalist who reviews for the Boston Globe and the Washington Post.