This article on Elena Ferrante is published in issue 30-31 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until July 30, 2024.
It’s a nice summer game that of Book Review of the New York Times.
He asked hundreds of writers, professors, editors, critics and literary professionals what they think are the ten best books of this first quarter century: the rule is that the chosen book must have been published in the United States, in English, on or after January 1, 2000. (Spoiler: Stephen King voted for Atonement by Ian McEwan, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Plot Against America by Philip Roth).
The overall winner, as you may have heard, surprisingly turned out to be an Italian author, or rather a female author, or rather a female author: ours. Elena Ferrantewith My Brilliant Friend. I wrote about the novel, or rather the tetralogy, for the tenth anniversary of Vanity Fair several years ago now: suffice it to say that it is addictive.
Then I interviewed Elena Ferrante, always on Vanity Fairfour years ago. Strictly via email, being a mysterious author, even if many clues lead to an esteemed literary couple that we will have the elegance not to mention. He had the grace – whoever he is – to tell us wonderful things, among which: «Being a woman is a great adventure and an extraordinary opportunity. It will be more and more so, there is a whole world to reinvent. Who knows, men will strive to become women».
All this to underline the esteem and respect for this author and how happy I am with the esteem and respect of American intellectuals towards her. But it is not surprising that many, in Italy, have raised their eyebrows – rigorously not well-groomed – to say that «yes, well, good books, agreed, but you want to put…». And here you choose between Philip Roth, Cormac McCarthy, Joan Didion, Toni Morrison, Jonathan Franzen, Annie Ernaux, each had their favorite author to say. We are a country of gossips and critics. We never miss an opportunity to show our provincialism, not even for a nice summer game where, unlike in football, we win.
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Source: Vanity Fair
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
