An engrossing, informative tale about a cinematic giant.
A novel focuses on Federico Fellini’s tempestuous life and brilliant film career.
Fellini first ventures to the circus on his fourth birthday in 1924. It is there, beneath a circus tent in Italy, where he seems to fall in love with the playfulness and creativity that infuse the sometimes-raucous atmosphere of show business. Fellini’s passion for theatrics continues despite coming-of-age in Fascist Italy as World War II begins. Later, determined to make sure “his life would have meaning—endless meaning and purpose,” he moves to Rome, where his job writing for a satirical magazine leads to opportunities in the film industry. While casting a radio play, he sees a picture of Giulietta Masina and immediately calls her up to make a date. The two soon fall in love and get married, cementing what will be a fruitful, long-term relationship both in life and the cinema. Following the war, Fellini’s career takes off, as he makes La Strada, La Dolce Vita, and 8½. Throughout it all, the playfulness of the circus never leaves Fellini’s heart. Fuglei’s account of Fellini’s life is certainly engaging, particularly the fearful descriptions of the Nazi occupation of Rome during the war and the vivid scenes of the relief and joy in the city when the German troops exit. The author’s highlighting of the differences between Fellini and other directors is a great nugget for cinema lovers: “Unlike many directors, he loved visitors and onlookers to his sets; he felt they brought energy and life…Federico’s were full of constant noise, chatter, and seeming disorder.” The story is accessible and entertaining throughout. But there are aspects of the tale that could have used more depth. The narrative would have benefited from fuller descriptions of the director’s supposed mistress and his and Masina’s relationship. Fellini and Masina’s partnership intersected with all areas of their lives and inspired some of the most important films in cinematic history. Their collaboration warrants an examination that’s broader than a simple look at an artist and his muse. Ultimately, Fuglei’s book does not feel like a novel. Instead, it reads like an appealing, quickly paced recitation of Fellini’s life that lacks cited sources. While it is a fine work, readers intensely interested in the director should look for a biography.
An engrossing, informative tale about a cinematic giant.Pub Date: March 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-947431-44-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Mentoris Project
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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