Things That Happened Before the Earthquake: A Novel

Author: Barzini, Chiara

Number Of Pages: 320

Details:

Welcome to LA? Nineties' Hollywood gets an Italian makeover in this poignant and ruefully funny coming-of-age novel featuring a teenage girl who's on shaky ground—in more ways than one. Mere weeks after the 1992 riots that laid waste to Los Angeles, Eugenia, a typical Italian teenager, is rudely yanked from her privileged Roman milieu by her hippie-ish filmmaker parents and transplanted to the strange suburban world of the San Fernando Valley. With only the Virgin Mary to call on for guidance as her parents struggle to make it big, Hollywood fashion, she must navigate her huge new public high school, complete with Crips and Bloods and Persian gang members, and a car-based environment of 99-cent stores and obscure fast-food franchises and all-night raves. She forges friendships with Henry, who runs his mother's movie memorabilia store, and the bewitching Deva, who introduces her to the alternate cultural universe that is Topanga Canyon. And then the 1994 earthquake rocks the foundations not only of Eugenia's home but of the future she'd been imagining for herself. From School Library Journal Despite the distinctly 1990s setting, Barzini's dryly funny, sophisticated tale of angst and alienation will resonate with today's teens. Eugenia's parents relocate from Rome to the San Fernando Valley, where her father hopes to make it as a screenwriter. Absorbed by their own ambitions, Eugenia's parents leave her to fend for herself in a city still reeling from the 1992 riots. Finding it difficult to fit in (in part because of her limited knowledge of English), she resorts to casual sex to seek out companionship and power, choosing her male conquests carefully. But it is the beautiful Deva, from the isolated Topanga Canyon, who captures Eugenia's imagination and, eventually, her heart. Topanga Canyon is a magical, beguiling respite from the concrete wasteland where Eugenia lives, but the canyon is an insular community with a code of its own, and Eugenia is trespassing. Barzini's characterization of Eugenia is vivid and immediate, while the protagonist's parents offer welcome comic relief. VERDICT Though sex, drugs, and alcohol figure prominently, this novel brilliantly portrays the teen experience—perfect for those who love coming-of-age stories.—Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA

Reviews:

"An Italian teenage girl shows up in 1990s Southern California in this culturally astute, strong-voiced novel. Barzini, truly a writer to watch, positions herself astride both American and Sicilian cultures, and packs this visceral book with strong sensations from both. The novel and its heroine, Eugenia, are deeply seductive."

— New York Times

“Chiara Barzini writes with a voice that is both tense and open. The effect is surprising, subversive, and singular."

— Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Interpreter of Maladies

"Chiara Barzini has pulled off that most dazzling balancing act: combining a deliciously entertaining plot with effortlessly elegant prose. She has an extraordinarily keen eye for cultural nuance. Through her alter-ego Eugenia we come to discover a California as wildly foreign to us as it is to her. A brilliant, sexy, and unexpected take on the immigrant bildungsroman.”

— Taiye Selasi, author of Ghana Must Go  

“Chiara Barzini has written a wild first novel, full of sex, violence, and desperate prayers to the Virgin Mary. This is a brutal and bizarre coming of age story aptly set in one of America’s many crises.”

— Catherine Lacey, author of Nobody is Ever Missing"Chiara Barzini has the heart and the capacity to tell a story that is bright on the surface and profound on the inside."

—Francesca Marciano, author of The Other Language

"Tectonic plates collide in this book: a girl lands on this continent with both feet planted in a pair of Reebok Pumps and the bared Italian bust and out-thrust tongue meet the buttoned-up American mind head-on. Our a...

EAN: 9780385542272

Release Date: 15-08-2017

Languages: English

Item Note: Great shape- pages are unmarked and sharp.Has a remainder mark. Hardcover Used - Like New Ships fast! 2017

Item Condition: UsedLikeNew

Binding: Hardcover