Oonagh Stransky's translation is highly readable, no small feat with a sophisticated narrative that interrogates the euphemisms applied to disabilities.
Born Twice
NOMINATED FOR DUBLIN IMPAC AWARD
PREMIO NAZIONALE PER LA TRADUZIONE
After his son is born with severe disabilities, articulate and unsentimental Professor Frigerio struggles to come to terms with his child’s condition. He confronts the strange way society handles Paolo’s difficulties and he observes his son’s gifts with tenderness. In spare but deeply affecting episodes, the professor explores the nuanced boundaries between “normal” and “disabled.”
A remarkable memoir of fathering, Born Twice won the 2001 Strega Prize. Sometimes meditative, often humorous, and always probing, Pontiggia’s haunting characters linger on long after the book is done.
Reviews | Born Twice
A subtle, unsentimental primer not only on the nature of disability but on the pitfalls we encounter when we try to turn a child into someone else.
American readers who encounter it will find it hard to resist.