A very slim volume, which is basically an extended short story. I picked this up prompted by the news that Bernardo Bertolucci was tempted out of semi-retirement to make a film of it. I can kind of see it working on the screen, despite the fact that much of it is an interior monologue.
It's fairly slight, and reminds me a little of other recent Italian novels I've read, like La Solitudine Dei Numeri Primi, concerning as it does a teenage loner, borderline autistic, who doesn't fit in with his peers and is happier just sitting alone, reading. His relationship with the other main character (no spoilers) is intriguing, and if anything I wish the book had been longer and had explored this in more detail.