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“Massimo Cuomo’s writing, not the protagonist’s beauty, is what’s truly wonderful about this book.” - Coooperazione
“Intense, engaging, psychologically deep. Beautiful lives up to its title.” - Ex Libris
“With this Márquezian novel Massimo Cuomo outdid himself.” - Corriere del Veneto
A magical tale of love and rivalry between two brothers.
Miguel is beautiful. His beauty is so rare and miraculous that it has made him the object of cult-like devotion in the city. Santiago, his older brother, watches with a mix of admiration and disquiet the prodigious effect that Miguel’s looks have on his mother and father, on passersby, their neighbours, and the droves of female suitors that follow him everywhere. With Miguel constantly under the spotlight, Santiago is left to inhabit darker, hidden places, from where he will finally learn that life is not easy for anyone, even his prodigiously handsome brother.
Set in Mexico, this story shines at every turn with the colours and mythical light of magical realism. The conflict between brothers, the role of the parents, the loves, the violence, the journeys are presented with realism and deep psychological insight yet possess an aura of legend. Disappointments, flights, regrets, reunions, goodbyes, epiphanies make up this story, as we follow the two brothers, and the people around them—all forever marked, each in their own way, by their extraordinary encounter with Beauty.
“In contemporary Italian literature, never has the theme of the close-knit yet ambivalent relationship between two brothers been addressed with such clarity, depth, and ability to bring to light the conflict raging within each soul.” - Avvenire
