{"product_id":"the-piazza-stories-from-piazza-santa-caterina-piccola-9798986306964","title":"The Piazza: Stories from Piazza Santa Caterina Piccola","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDeluxe, Illustrated Edition\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA novel in stories! With a wry sense of humor and a haunting sense of hope, Emmy, Peabody, and Humanitas Award winner Bob Brush weaves twenty-five charming stories into a compelling narrative of a community dancing on the tightrope of history.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn a tiny piazza in an obscure Italian hilltop town in 1933, magical things are happening. From the window of his mother's bakery a young boy, Niccolò, sees it all: a pickpocket who purloins human emotions; a beggar who summons the voice of God from the town well; a blind silent-movie accompanist; two young lovers whose passion changes history. Over it all looms the onrushing shadow of fascism and Benito Mussolini. In \u003cem\u003eThe Piazza: Stories from Piazza Santa Caterina Piccola\u003c\/em\u003e, citizens of this unexpected and improbable place find themselves bound together by their hopes, their lies, their humanity, and their destiny, unbowed in the face of war and certain catastrophe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach of these interconnected stories can be read in about twenty minutes or less. While each story can stand alone, taken together they present a heartwarming, heartbreaking, always funny, sometimes tragic, fantastical love song to a time and place that no longer exist - if in fact they ever existed at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAUTHOR'S NOTE: These stories were thirty years in the making, taken from scenes and characters I encountered on my travels throughout Italy. Read a story a day, on vacation or at bedtime. If you enjoy humor, romance, and a taste of the unexpected, I hope \u003cem\u003eThe Piazza\u003c\/em\u003e will enchant you with the unique, eternal, and effervescent magic of Italy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Piazza\u003c\/em\u003e is a delight. These tales evoke the magic of Calvino's most beguiling works and the conscience-searing observations of Joyce's \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDubliners\u003c\/em\u003e. There's humor and wisdom in these stories, and beauty too, and - delivered so deftly you don't see it coming - the hard punch of history.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Rachel Kadish, author of The Weight of Ink, winner of the National Jewish Book Award and the John Gardner Fiction Award\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Topanga Moon Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50911419040018,"sku":"9798986306964","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_865ce550-a722-4678-a8c8-5a87301cf5ba.jpg?v=1738740589","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-piazza-stories-from-piazza-santa-caterina-piccola-9798986306964","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}