One step after another towards the finishing line, one chapter after another to sum up a whole life.
At every step and in every chapter we find the present and the past: in flashbacks we go through the adventure of Matteo Bonadies, experiencing with him his teenage frustrations and his first victories. “That day I came home, there was no comment. ‘Did you know I broke the eighty meters record?’ No reply, no comment, at the table they kept talking about other things, while my heart was racing with joy”. The family obstructions, the constant fear of failing, the extreme but unconfessed sensitivity, the bitterness and the failures, the redress and the great successes. There is all this and still more in Sulla corsia degli 80 (In the 80 lane) (Bonfirraro, 2016, pp. 137, euro 15,90), a short account as well as last confession by Matteo Bonadies, jeweller and prolific writer from Barletta, Honorary Consul for the Republic of Malta in Bari, who continues, on the threshold of eighty, to untiringly pursue all his interests, including writing.
In this latest work, in a sort of confession, without filters he reveals the paths taken in his life and his fear of death. And it could be no different for a person who, about to turn eighty, a number that is repeated like a mantra, has lived life to the full, many lives perhaps, with energy and dynamism. “I like life, I like living, I like feeling alive… always young and active… I don’t want to die… I’d like to continue to be young and to continue to live…” running, on foot, by car, by plane, with the imagination, in search of thrills.
Then there are memories of love satisfied and of love that never quite blossomed, of family joy and social recognition, and questioning oneself on the great mystery of life and death, the latter a tangible fact made manifest by the inevitable loss of loved ones.
These pages are little frescoes, snaps of life, admittedly accompanied by a veil of sadness but exuding an uncontainable love of life, a desire to relive it through memories but also to continue to live it intensely, more and still more.
There’s no doubt, Bonadies would agree with what the great Woody Allen once said with his magnificent irony, “I’m strongly opposed to death, I always have been”.
Books Not even love transforms the Stock Exchange of destinies Books And the dream of conquest turned into a mirage of the desert Books Joseph’s Gargano Books The tragedy of Mattmark A book so as not to forget Books Journey through the gardens of Italy Books When poetry investigates “time” Books Amidst the storms of life it’s the strength of a loving heart that wins Books That valley in the Gargano so rich in history that must not be forgotten Books Grottaglie and its pottery through the life of the benefactor Vincenzo Calò Books Eighty years of joyful culture Books Sergeant Romano’s siege like in a movie Books San Marco in Lamis seen from its bell-tower Books A great love for splendid Castro Books Better not come home... Letters between Italy and America during the first World War Books Story of a poet between Puglia and America Books Worked to death under the sun of Puglia Books When forgotten objects tell a life story Books Masserie of Puglia Journey amidst Beauty Books An excursion into the Salentine dialect … Mai pe iabbu Books The moral revival of the South can start from its “best” Books Life, anyway! Books Rainbow of women Books Amidst the mountains of Val d’Aosta …in pursuit of the culprit Books …Once upon a time there was the past Writing about it to preserve the memory Books Disorder and experimentation in the museum-houses of Ignazio Apolloni Books Salento stories …in search of lost time Books Pietro Marti, the great standard-bearer of Salento culture Books Even tycoons cry Books If a “whale” island appears one night out of nowhere… Books From his ancestral Calabria to Roma Precious memories of a lifetime Books The importance of rediscovering “fraternity” Books In the wax museum to seek the dream of a better world Books Naples “Kissed by God and raped by Man” Books Once upon a time there was the padre-padrone Books Second World War The drama of the fallen Books On the Savannah lagoons …to heal Books The meaning of the 20th century in the saga of the Stille family Books In Fellini’s La dolce vita the germs of today’s Italy Basilicata Craco The “second life” of a ghost town Po Delta The Po Delta park Natural beauty and history Bari “Cieli americani” in Bari Verona Verona Shakespeare celebrated its beauty without ever having seen it Courmayeur Courmayeur All the charm of the low season Ferrara You can still dream in Ferrara Ferrara “Action!” Amongst Ferrara’s myriad sets Music Porretta Soul Festival The Italian Woodstock of black American music Matera Pasolini-Matera Fifty years ago the first Gospel in the Sassi Naples “Wood Stone and Friends” Jimmie Durham’s magic vitalism at the MADRE Naples Art miracles at Vigna San Martino Naples The Hermann Nitsch Museum From horror to awareness Bologna Do you want to be FICO? In Bologna you can Bologna Bologna “The Learned”, “The Fat”, “The Red” Bologna At the MAMbo Arte Povera on display Polignano From Brooklyn to Polignano Twelve artists out to conquer Europe Movies With The Revenant DiCaprio rises again and aims for the Oscar Movies Quo Vado? When the southern redneck turns politically correct Movies When the cinema returns to the future Best of Italy Andria Pietro Zito’s vegetable garden This is where his prize-winning dishes originate Best of Italy The best Milanese panettone is… Salentine San Marino “From Hopper to Warhol” on the gentle hills of San Marino San Marino San Marino Historic appeal amidst breathtaking panoramas Turin Reggia di Venaria Reale A treasure rediscovered Turin The Egyptian Museum of Turin The immortal appeal of the Pharaohs Turin “For President” Photogenic qualities will win the elections Padua So much… In the city of the three “withouts” Milan EXPO 2015 Not just food Milan The oneiric inspirations of Joan Jonas Milan “Autunno americano” Milan celebrates the States Milan MILAN The metropolis is still “to drink” (…and “to eat”) Rome “Empire State” New York is still the epicenter of art Venice The immortal charm of the “Queen of the Sea” Venice So many “Illumi/nations” with the Biennale d’Arte Rovigo History and Art In the capital of the Polesine Rovigo “Divisionism, the light of what is modern” 200 works on show in Rovigo