Review of the Livornese Writer by Alessandro Ulivari

The Cover of Aspetto Che SpiovaBefore reading Riccardo D’Amico’s book entitled “Aspetto che spiova” (‘I’m waiting for it to stop raining’) I thought that the style and also the contents of this book would be quite similar to Bukowski. I expected to find some rough dialogues, scurrilous words and the genuine passion of a couldn’t-care-less attitude that are several aspects of Charles Bukowski's approach to the world. These expectations were reinforced by some statements by the author on the cover:

“I was born in Livorno on October 5th 1960 and grew up in the Livornese Bronx in a workers family, in the Shangai quarter”, “Bukowski came afterward, and was devastating. He came after the first joint and after the first kiss of love. The gambling came close behind like a cigarette coughing after smoking.” “ I dream about waking up always just after noon and finding a reason to take me back under the blanket”.

In reality the book style is very very far from all my expectations and maybe the author too, because the pages of this book are full of sensitivity, forgiveness and above all admiration for the author’s grandfather (Nonno Spartaco) a man who was very violent (especially in his use of words) and stormy but mostly naïve about life.
I would say this book is a “family history book”, not a famous or very rich one, but a common livornese enlarged family, with its incoherences, internal wars, loves, even if it is a not common example of an old family with tangled relationships (almost a modern family).
This book is full of memories that come out when the author speaks about the summers spent in Torena (a mountain village) where his grandfather (not Nonno Spartaco but the father of the author’s mother) was born, the carefree periods, the season of life in which everyone is sure that it will stop raining.
“Aspetto che spiova” is a simple book written with honesty in terms of style and contents with maybe a misleading comment in the cover… a book that I nevertheless recommend.