| Giambattista Bodoni is a successful sixty year old rare book dealer from Milan who has lost his episodic or autobiographical memory and consequently doesn't know who he is and has no recall of any of the events of his life.
Yambo (his nickname) upon learning of his condition embarks on a quest to re-establish the events of his life. He returns to work and is troubled by his attraction to his young assistant: Sibilla. Did he sleep with her? Is she more than just his right hand woman - what does she think of him? His wife Paola suggests that he go back to his childhood home and perhaps he will begin to remember who he is in what should be familiar surroundings. His childhood home( in Solara) is kept up by the Amalia the daughter of Yambo's Grandfathers' housekeeper. While several years older than Yambo she always doted on the young master and is thrilled that he will be staying at the Solara home. Yambo begins rummaging through all the old artifacts(books, phonographs, records, magazines, newspapers, an old Telefunken radio) attempting to piece together his early life. Meanwhile Amalia cooks extraordinarily rich meals with a great deal of salt and Yambo who has high blood pressure begins to suffer more health issues. Then it happens - he stumbles across the name Lila. He calls his friend Gianni who tells him that he was madly in love with Lila in High School. He could do nothing for a year but dream about being with her. Gianni tries to jar his memory by telling him of certain times they shared and certain events of his High School years. Yambo suffers a stroke and sinks into a coma. In his unconscious state he begins to regain his memory and starts to see the events of his childhood: his one wartime adventure, his philosophic conversations with his former teacher, his religious discussions with his family priest, his High School acting debut, and his first ejaculation. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's Romance/Romance Problems Yes Kind of romance: Internal struggle/realization? Yes Struggle over Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 60's-90's Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - none Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 () Europe Yes European country: - Italy Writing Style Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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