I wish to thank heartily Sergio Perroni for his precious shepherding of the manuscript, chapter by chapter, in the four and a half years that it took to complete; whatever merit it may have would never have been achieved without his help. I wish to thank my father and my mother for the silent faith in the future that they handed down to me. I wish to thank my publishing house, and in particular Elisabetta Sgarbi, for waiting so patiently. I wish to thank Francesca d’Aloja for the support she gave me. And I wish to thank all the people who helped me in various ways, providing me with information, ideas, stories, observations, or even simply listening to me and encouraging me to go on. There are many: Juan Cueto, Edoardo Nesi, Giovanni Martini, Massimiliano Governi, my brother Giovanni, Marco Risi, Nanni Moretti, Bruno Restuccia, Umberto Falaschi, Paolo Carbonati, Leopoldo Fabiani, Elisabetta Arnaboldi, Andrea Garello, Philippine Leroy, Pierluigi Ferrandini, Michel Thoulouze, Ivan Nabokov, Piero Crispino, Nicola Alvau, Carla Cavalluzzi, Simona Cagnasso, Sonia Locatelli, Heidi Kennedy, Laura Paolucci, Luca Buoncristiano, Claudio Scotto, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Michele Forlani, Rosaria Carpinelli, Emmanuel Gout, Chiara Tagliaferri, Stefano Toti, Stefano Ciambellotti, Violante Placido, Lanfranco Marra, Domenico Procacci, Filippo Bologna, Silvia Pacetti, and Manuele Innocenti.
And they say that you’re alone when you write.