"Francesco Pacifico is a brilliantly funny and weirdly subversive writer.
The Story of My Purity manages to be both absurd and sincere; it is impossible to resist Piero Rosini’s precise narration of his struggle to be a saint as he endures so many earthly temptations. A joy to read." —Dana Spiotta, author of
Stone Arabia "Ho, ho, and ho! Insanely funny and terrifically offensive, Francesco Pacifico’s novel fell on my head like a bowling ball and knocked me the hell out. Among many other things, it’s a great updating of Roman life. American publishers don’t really translate from the Italiano anymore, so it’s great to see a worthy translation of what is sure to be a modern Italian classic." —Gary Shteyngart, author of
Super Sad True Love Story "An unstoppable sarcastic force. [Pacifico] is certainly one of the most talented writers of his generation." —Alessandro Piperno,
Vanity Fair (Italy)
"With these viscerally honest and hilarious adventures of a young Roman struggling to free himself from the cynicism of Berlusconi’s ‘bunga bunga’ Italy and the moral absolutism of the Catholic Church, Francesco Pacifico revives the Italian comic novel. The writing is ribald but never vulgar, extremely smart about friendship and sex but without pretension. You’ll laugh aloud, want to hide your blushing face in the pillow, and argue with the author, all at once." —Marco Roth, author of
The Scientists “Piero Rosini is the extraordinary main character of The Story of My Purity, a rich and surprising, bright and liberal novel, dense with stories and even courageous because of the topics it deals with and the profound lightness with which it deals with them.” —Ivan Cotroneo, Rolling Stone
