Margherita Dolce Vita
Stefano Benni Europa, 226pp, £8.99
It is one thing to keep up with the Joneses, quite another to match the familial incarnation of modernity in Benni's novel. When the coiffeured and gadget-equipped Del Benes move into the black cube house they have constructed next door, 15-year-old Margherita Dolce Vita is the only member of her family not to become dazzled by their plasma megascreen and "purified air" lifestyle.
Mamma Emma swaps her bad cooking and imaginary smoking for cellulite cream and fancy hairdos, while father Fausto stops repairing "bicycles afflicted with pedalitis" in favour of dodgy dealings with Signor Del Bene. Even Margherita's older brother, Giacinto, succumbs, shifting football allegiance in his quest for the heart of Labella Del Bene. Margherita, with her younger sibling, Erminio ("a ball-busting likeable little terrorist genius"), and Grandpa Socrates (who eats toxins to mithridatise himself and is having an affair with a ghost), sets out to expose the Del Benes' war against traditional life.
In the satirical tones that have made Benni so popular in Italy, the novel is a tirade against a world brainwashed by meaningless jargon and excessive consumption. It is surreal, droll and makes you want to settle down with bread and dripping to listen to the wireless.
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