Barbie

by Stefano Paolocci, John James O'Donnell (Translator)

An effective, sophisticated and accurate piece of timeless narrative, a testimony of the individual truth that is always ingrained within the actual and social facts of history.


Between the last days of the "Geniul din Carpati," or Nicolae Ceausescu, and the years immediately following his famous execution by firing squad that was shown live on TV (25 December 1998), Romania fell into the uncertainty of a revolution that was never implemented in practice. Reflecting a society split between the desire for freedom and the latent immobility of an entire generation born of the backwardness of the Ceauseschian regime, is Nicu, a teacher living in Bucharest. Within the short span of a few months, Nicu finds himself unemployed and has to face the hardships of a job that is no longer there, money that is scarce, and food that is lacking. Mihail, a preadolescent boy of the underground, lives with his friend Barbie within the sewer system that cuts across the city. Always populated by a young humanity, the sewers of Bucharest form a jungle where the law of the strongest prevails, where one gets high sniffing Aurolac from plastic bags and in order to eat one prostitutes oneself in exchange for a handful of dollars. One day, on the snow-covered meadows of the Tineretului Park, that green space of Bucharest and the invisible wall of partition separating the good neighborhoods from the periphery, Nicu’s and Mihail’s stories cross.

55 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 28, 2018

About the author

Stefano Paolocci has been writing professionally in Italy for more than ten years. He’s published the following:

"Prima la panna poi il cioccolato" with Elena Invernizzi (Effequ, 2004);
"La Panchina" (Ed. Cicorivolta, 2008);
"Passato Imperfetto" (Minerva Edizioni, 2008) with Elena Invernizzi and Paolo Bolognesi (the novel was one of three finalists for the "Premio Fedeli" for the best Italian police novel in 2008);
"Ordine dal caos" (Minerva Edizioni, 2010) with Elena Invernizzi and Paolo Bolognesi;
"Un orsacchiotto con le batterie" (Ed. Round Robin, 2012) with Elena Invernizzi, is a story about the massacre of Via d’Amelio, where the anti-mafia magistrate Paolo Borsellino and his escort were killed in a car bombing in Palermo, Sicily in 1992.
Stefano has also published two tales for children and young adults:

"Sgorbiafaccia" (Ed. Hablò, 2006).
"Chi è muto non parla" with Elena Invernizzi (Ed. EsseLibri, 2007)
The novel "Isola per due" under Stefano’s pseudonym Aidan Sweets (Ed. Arpanet, 2007).

In addition to novels, Stefano has also published many short stories in various Italian literary collections:

"ll paese di Bengodi" con Valerio Massimo Manfredi (Ed. Pendragon, 2004)
"I biglietti vincenti della lotteria del secolo" - Racconti metropolitani AA.VV. (Ed. EDUP, 2004)
"Sopra-a capo-vissuto" - Spazzatura! (Ed. Fernandel, 2005)
"Il drappo nero del gasolio" - Il sapore del fumo, AA.VV. (Effequ, 2006)
"Doppia vita-Vita doppia" - Orme di gatto, AA.VV. (Effequ, 2007)
"I believe I can fly" - La voce dei matti, AA.VV. (Effequ, 2008)
"Narratori della memoria" with Elena Invernizzi e Paolo Bolognesi (Ed. Vololibero, 2013)
During the 2016 have been published:
- the tale "Sgorbiafaccia" (ebook) in portoguese as "A Copa dos craques rabiscados" and in english as "Scarred Face";
- the novel "La panchina" (ebook) in english as "Barbie";
- the novel "Isola per due" (ebook) in spanish as "Isla para dos";
- the novel "Isola per due" (ebook) in english as "An island for two".