Quarta di copertina

The extraordinary life of Giangiacomo Feltrinelli - visionary, publisher, revolutionary - as told by his only son.

On a spring evening in 1972, a man climbed up an electricity tower outside Milan, intending to place a bomb. He fell to his death. Notices in the next day's newspapers announced the botched action of an unnamed "terrorist." It quickly became clear, however, that this "terrorist" was one of the most famous men in Europe.

Born into a wealthy and distinguished family, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli fought with the partisans against the Nazis, joined the Communist Party, then took over the family's financial empire after the war. In 1954 he founded the house that bears the family name, and went on to publish the likes of Pasternak, Kerouac, Bellow, and Che Guevara. In the sixties he supported revolutionary movements in Europe and the Americas, and befriended Fidel Castro. But in spite of his leftist sympathies, Feltrinelli wasn't proletarian enough to give up his yachts, sports cars, and the lavish estates in which he entertained the best and brightest of a generation.

Combining warm personal memories of his father with a carefully documented history of the period, Carlo Feltrinelli has written an unsparing, provocative, and above all deeply engrossing book.

Book News Annotation:
In this first US edition, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli's son offers a memoir of his father's life as a famed revolutionary and publisher of Pasternak, Kerouc, Che Guevara, et al., who died under suspicious circumstances in 1972. Photos show him with family and luminaries (e.g. Fidel Castro, Henry Miller). Carlo directs the Milan publishing house that his father founded. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Synopsis:
European Praise for Feltrinelli:

"Feltrinelli's life reads like an intellectual thriller in which books and bombings collide, a life fueled by money, passion, and politics, where mansions and libraries are ransacked for clues." --The Observer (UK)


"Magnificent...A wonderful homage." --L'Espresso (Italy)


"Simply extraordinary." --Le Monde (France)


"It is a pleasure to read the story of a man who was entirely convinced that the world can be changed with books." --Die Weltwoche (Germany)