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An inspector rages against the announcement that police HQ is to relocate – the way so many of the city’s residents already have – to the mainland... An aspiring author struggles with the inexorable creep of rentalisation that has forced him to share his apartment, and life, with ‘global pilgrims’... An ageing painter rails against the liberties taken by tourists, but finds his anger undermined by his own childhood memories of the place... The Venice presented in these stories is a far cry from the ‘impossibly beautiful’, frozen-in-time city so familiar to the thousands who flock there every year – a city about which, Henry James once wrote, ‘there is nothing new to be said.’ Instead, they represent the other Venice, the one tourists rarely see: the real, everyday city that Venetians have to live and work in. Rather than a city in stasis, we see it at a crossroads, fighting to regain its radical, working-class soul, regretting the policies that have seen it turn slowly into a theme park, and taking the pandemic as an opportunity to rethink what kind of city it wants to be.
A slighted wife escapes her wealthy family for the evening and stumbles into the city's red-light district... The head of security at Barcelona's container port searches for a figure that only he has seen sneak in... An elderly woman brings home a machine that will turn her body into atoms, so she can leave behind a city that is no longer recognisable... Historically, Barcelona is a city of resistance and independence; a focal point for Catalan identity, as well as the capital of Spanish republicanism. Nestled between the Mediterranean coast and mountains, this burgeoning city has also been home to some of the greatest names in modern art and architecture, and attracts visitors and migrants from all over the world. As a result, the city is a melting-pot of cultures, and the stories gathered here offer a miscellany of form and genre, fittingly reminiscent of one of Gaudi's mosaics. From the boy-giant outgrowing his cramped flat on the city's outskirts, to the love affair that begins in a launderette, we meet characters who are reclaiming the independence of their city by challenging common misconceptions and telling its myriad truths.
La vita di Linda, diligente studentessa del Liceo classico “Pietro Orseolo II” del Lido di Venezia, è sconvolta da una scenata in famiglia. A botte e a spintoni il padre la caccia di casa e lei si ritrova, un po’ per sfida, un po’ per fascinazione, in viaggio per l’India insieme all’amico Jamie e ad altri giovani incontrati lungo il cammino. Dopo cinque mesi di avventure, rientra in Italia ammalata di epatite virale e viene ricoverata nell’isola delle Grazie, sede dell’ospedale per le malattie infettive di Venezia. Lì conosce alcune degenti, di età e provenienza sociale diverse, la cui influenza la stimola a riflettere sulle sue scelte e sull’esperienza on the road appena vissuta. Un romanzo di formazione ambientato negli anni Settanta, epoca in cui i feroci scontri politici e sociali si intrecciavano agli ideali ambientalisti e alla ricerca spirituale.
Come mai si rimane così spesso delusi in amore? Proprio quando siamo convinti di aver incontrato la persona giusta, scopriamo che la realtà è molto diversa da come l'avevamo sognata. Il problema è che confondiamo l’innamoramento – una prima fase emozionante e passionale – con l’amore, un sentimento molto più profondo, che per durare e alimentarsi richiede la conoscenza reale di sé e dell’altro. Grazie alla sua lunga esperienza clinica con centinaia di pazienti, la psicologa e psicoterapeuta Ombretta Cecchini ha messo a punto un percorso di autorealizzazione che ci aiuta a distinguere tra la realtà e le nostre proiezioni, tra ciò che crediamo di volere e ciò che desideriamo...
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Ben and Miko’s relationship is in trouble. He’s a struggling filmmaker, she works for a local film festival, and in various ways, they’re both searching for something else. When he’s not managing a derelict movie theater, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben begins to explore what he thinks he wants, throwing himself headfirst into new relationships, unfamiliar surroundings, and uncharted emotional territory. Equal parts comedy and drama, Shortcomings explores the complexities of cult...