L'Italo-Americano

G iorgio Faletti was a multital- ented artist: a g i f t e d c r i m e n o v e l i s t , a n inspired singer-songwriter, a stand-up comedian, and an actor who added dramat- i c d i m e n s i o n s t o h i s onscreen persona. The adventurous story- teller died of lung cancer in 2014 in Turin, at age 63 on J u l y 4 , A m e r i c a ' s I n d e p e n d e n c e D a y anniversary. It was just a coincidence, yet that syn- c h r o n i c i t y o r s a d i r o n y helps me evoke and revive his natural, strong feelings of love for the US. Faletti was born in Asti, a medieval town in Piedmont t h a t i s a f o o d a n d w i n e lover's paradise. But he was e n a m o r e d w i t h c a r s , American culture, and the American way of life. In the 1970s, after gradu- ating from law school, he began performing standup c o m e d y a t t h e M i l a n e s e Club "Derby." His TV career kicked off in the 1980s with t h e c u l t v a r i e t y s h o w Drive-In, where he created a range of oddball charac- ters such as Vito Catozzo and Suor Daliso. In the meantime, Faletti's i n n o v a t i v e c a r e e r h a d opened to music and that remained a constant in his creativity. He wrote songs t h a t w e r e h i t s f o r o t h e r artists such as Mina, Milva, Angelo Branduardi among others. In the mid-'90s he c o m p e t e d i n t h e I t a l i a n Song Festival in Sanremo, surprising the audience and c r i t i c s w i t h s o n g s t h a t expressed a deeply reflec- tive, melancholy side. In 2002, his debut as a crime writer was even more u n e x p e c t e d : h e b e c a m e Italy's publishing sensation of the early 2000s with the thriller Io Uccido (I Kill), w h i c h h a s s o l d 5 m i l l i o n copies. Faletti's books have been translated into 25 lan- guages. La Nave di Teseo publishing house has just republished all his work and his novel A Pimp's Notes was recently adapted into a f i l m p r o d u c e d b y L u c a Barbareschi, but its release w a s p o s t p o n e d d u e t o Covid-19 restrictions. I interviewed Mr. Faletti several times along his mul- tifaceted career. When he t a l k e d a b o u t h i s w i f e Roberta, "a sweet architect" who renovated their "stone h o u s e " a n d l o v e n e s t o n Elba Island, his eyes would l i g h t u p . T h e y w o u l d become even more aquama- rine. "My husband was quite fond of that place, our trea- s u r e d h o m e o n E l b a , " remarks Roberta Bellesini Faletti in recalling her rela- tionships with the versatile artist and his intense feeling for America. "We were so close despite the age differ- ence, 20 years, but he was keeping his spirit young," she says. Ms. Bellesini Faletti, why did he set the sec- o n d n o v e l , N i e n t e d i Vero Tranne gli Occhi (The Killer in My Eyes), in NYC? " A f t e r a c h i e v i n g g r e a t success with his first thriller I Kill, Giorgio was contem- plating the next novel. He decided to pick NYC as a setting but a problem arose: he had never been to the US before and was over 50. One day, he told me: 'Well, this is a good time to go; I will find inspiration there.' In October 2003, we left for N Y C w h e r e w e s t a y e d a month. Giorgio already had a good idea of how the story would unfold but he needed to see the key locations and d o e x t r a r e s e a r c h t o strengthen his knowledge and flesh out his book. He n e e d e d t o b r e a t h e t h e atmosphere of the city." The Killer In My Eyes became another best- seller. Then he did write some short stories set in the US. "Yes, they were included in Crimini, an anthology of crime stories by different I t a l i a n n o i r w r i t e r s . T h e project also included a TV series produced by RAI, the Italian national TV channel. R a i C o r p o r a t i o n h e l d a press conference at its ele- gant studios on 32 Avenue of the Americas. We were also guests of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. We stayed in the city for a long time. It was the year when Lehman Brothers collapsed, shaking financial m a r k e t s w o r l d w i d e . T h e h o u s i n g m a r k e t w a s depressed and I remember m y h u s b a n d t e l l i n g m e : 'Let's contact a real estate agent: we'd better take a look at some apartments!'" So you bought one! "It is exactly what we did. After seeing a handful of spaces, we fell in love with t h e c h a r m i n g R o s e H i l l neighborhood today popu- lated with landmark archi- t e c t u r e . T h e r e s i d e n t i a l b u i l d i n g l o c a t e d a t E a s t 2 9 t h S t r e e t b e t w e e n Madison Avenue and Park Avenue was still under con- s t r u c t i o n . W e p i c k e d a n a p a r t m e n t o n t h e 2 9 t h floor." Do you still own the New York apartment? " N o , I s o l d i t a f t e r G i o r g i o p a s s e d a w a y . I t made me suffer because we had found it together and f u r n i s h e d i t t o g e t h e r according to our taste, the Italian taste, you know. The memories we made there, bit by bit, laugh by laugh, made it difficult to go back there by myself. But it was a h o m e t h a t I l i k e d a l o t . However, we were lucky to have lived it for a few years. Every year, we stayed for three months." H e w a s a r e n o w n e d c o m e d i a n w h e n h e d i s - closed to me that his writing was underway. He also told me that his literary idol was J e f f r e y D e a v e r , a n A m e r i c a n m y s t e r y a n d crime writer best known for his Lincoln Rhyme thrillers. I used to interview Deaver t w i c e a y e a r a n d h e w a s scheduled to come to Milan within a few weeks again. So I passed along to Faletti the date and the location of D e a v e r ' s v i s i t . A n d t h e y met, I guess. Their friend- ship flourished naturally because when I saw Deaver again the following year he told me about Faletti. Then they both suffered from a minor stroke and one day Deaver mentioned to me MARIELLA RADAELLI LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE A beautiful portrait of Giorgio Faletti (Photo courtesy of Paola Malfatto) The brilliant Giorgio Faletti and his love for America Continued to page 34 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano

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