Carlo Fruttero
Encyclopedia
Carlo Fruttero is an Italian
writer
, journalist
, translator
and editor of anthologies. He is mostly known for his joint work with Franco Lucentini
, especially as authors of crime novels. The duo was also editor of the science fiction series Urania
from the 1960s to the 1980s, and of the comics magazine Il Mago
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
and editor of anthologies. He is mostly known for his joint work with Franco Lucentini
Franco Lucentini
Franco Lucentini was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and editor of anthologies. His novel The Sunday Woman, which was also made into a film, 1976, with Marcello Mastroianni and Jacqueline Bisset.- Biography :...
, especially as authors of crime novels. The duo was also editor of the science fiction series Urania
Urania (magazine)
Urania is an Italian science fiction magazine published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore since October 10, 1952.-History:The first issue featured the novel The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke...
from the 1960s to the 1980s, and of the comics magazine Il Mago
Il Mago (magazine)
Il Mago was an Italian comics magazine created by Mario Spagnol and published monthly by Mondadori from April 1972 to Dicember 1980. Issues published amounted to 105.-History:...
.
Alone
- Volti a perdere (1999)
- Visibilità zero (1999; bylined as "Fruttero & Fruttero" - playing on the usual "Fruttero & Lucentini" - tells with more humour than satire the story of the imaginary member of parliament Aldo Slucca)
- Donne informate sui fatti (2006)
- Ti trovo un po' pallida (2007; see below, under the joint works with Lucentini)
- Mutandine di chiffon (2010; autobiographical writings)
With Franco Lucentini
- Il secondo libro della fantascienza (1961; the first of several successful anthologies of science fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short stories edited by F&L; literally, "The second science fiction book") - L'idraulico non verrà (1971; poetry collection; lit., "The plumber will not come")
- La donna della domenica, (1972, translated into EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by William WeaverWilliam WeaverWilliam Fense Weaver is an English language translator of modern Italian literature.-Biography:William Weaver is perhaps best known for his translations of the work of Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino, and has translated many other Italian authors over the course of a career spanning more than fifty...
as The Sunday Woman in 1973; the first and most famous novel by F&L, and one of the first examples of Italian crime novels) - L'Italia sotto il tallone di F&L (1974; a humorous political fantasy in which Fruttero & Lucentini become dictators of Italy with the help of Muammar al-GaddafiMuammar al-GaddafiMuammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
; the novel was inspired by the actual harsh reaction of the embassy of LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
to a satirical article by F&L in La Stampa, very critical of Gaddafi; lit., "Italy under F[ruttero] & L[ucentini]'s heel") - Il significato dell'esistenza (1974; lit., "The meaning of existence")
- A che punto è la notteA che punto è la notteA che punto è la notte is a mystery novel written by Italian authors Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini in 1979.It was published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, and features the same commissar Santamaria who had been protagonist of the duo's first successful mystery, La donna della domenica...
(1979; crime novel; lit., "What of the night", as in the Bible book of IsaiahBook of IsaiahThe Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
, 22:11) - La cosa in sé (1982; play "in two acts and a licence" about a man who realises that solipsismSolipsismSolipsism is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. The term comes from Latin solus and ipse . Solipsism as an epistemological position holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure. The external world and other minds cannot be known, and might not...
is real and all the universe is created by his mind; lit., "The thing in itself", as in the philosophical termNoumenonThe noumenon is a posited object or event that is known without the use of the senses.The term is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to "phenomenon", which refers to anything that appears to, or is an object of, the senses...
) - Il Palio delle contrade morte (1983, lit., "The PalioPalioThe oldest extant palio is the Palio di Asti, but the Palio di Siena is better known internationally. There are many other palios that are held throughout the various regions of Italy. Here follows an incomplete list:-Tuscany:...
of the dead quarters") - Ti trovo un po' pallida (1983; a ghost story set in sunny TuscanyTuscanyTuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, originally appeared in the L'EspressoL'Espressol'Espresso is an Italian newsmagazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies, the other being Panorama. Since the latter has been acquired by right-wing tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi, l'Espresso enjoys the reputation of being the main politically independent newsmagazine...
magazine in 1979; it was actually written by Fruttero alone, as explained in the afterword to 2007 volume edition; lit., "You look quite pale") - La prevalenza del cretino (1985; a collection of "L'Agenda di F. & L." columns form the newspaper La StampaLa StampaLa Stampa is one of the best-known, most influential and most widely sold Italian daily newspapers. Published in Turin, it is distributed in Italy and other European nations. The current owner is the Fiat Group.-History:...
, about all forms of stupidity; lit., "The supremacy of the stupid") - Il colore del destino (1987; collection of three novellas: Notizie dagli scavi (by Lucentini) and Ti trovo un po' pallida (by Fruttero), already published, and Il colore del destino (written jointly); it is the only book by the two authors having the byline "Lucentini & Fruttero" rather than "Fruttero & Lucentini"; lit., "The colour of destiny")
- La verità sul caso D (1989, translated into English by Gregory Dowling as The D. Case: Or The Truth About The Mystery Of Edwin Drood; a completion and elaboration on Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin DroodThe Mystery of Edwin DroodThe Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by Charles Dickens. The novel was left unfinished at the time of Dickens' death, and his intended ending for it remains unknown. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, the story focuses on Drood's uncle, choirmaster John Jasper, who...
; lit., "The truth on the D case") - L'amante senza fissa dimora (1990; a novel about a successful Italian woman meeting a mysterious man in romantic Venice: an apparently standard love story with a twist; lit., "The lover of no fixed abode")
- Storie americane di guerra (1991, editor; anthology of "American war stories")
- Enigma in luogo di mare (1991; crime novel set in a seaside community in Tuscany; lit., "Riddle in a sea town")
- Il ritorno del cretino (1992; more columns from "La Stampa"; lit., "The comeback of the stupid")
- Breve storia delle vacanze (1994; lit., "Short history of vacations")
- La morte di Cicerone (1995; lit., "Cicero's death")
- Il nuovo libro dei nomi di battesimo (1998; a non-fiction handbook about how to choose a name for a son, with amusing information and trivia on names' meaning and use)
- Il cretino in sintesi (2002; still more columns from "La Stampa"; lit., "The stupid in synthesis")
- Viaggio di nozze al Louvre (2002; lit., "Honeymoon at Louvre")
- I nottambuli (2002; lit., "The nightwalkers")
- I ferri del mestiere (2003; a collection of articles and short stories edited by Domenico Scarpa; lit., "The tools of the trade")