PASTI, Umberto

PERSONAL:

Born in Milan, Italy. Hobbies and other interests: Islamic ceramics, botany.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Milan, Italy; Tangiers, Morocco. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Pushkin Press, 123 Biddulph Mansions, Elgin Ave., London W9 IHU, England.

CAREER:

Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Premio Viareggio shortlist, 2000, for L'età fiorita.

WRITINGS:

(Translator) Marcel Proust: Letters to His Mother, Tartaruga, 1986.

L'età fiorita, Saggiatore (Milan, Italy), 2000, translation by Alastair McEwen published as The Age of Flowers, Pushkin Press (London, England), 2003.

Contributor to periodicals, including Il Giornale, La Voce, Vogue, Elle, House and Garden, and World of Interiors.

SIDELIGHTS:

Italian writer Umberto Pasti published L'età fiorita in 2000. The work was translated by Alastair McEwen and published in 2003 as The Age of Flowers. The novel concerns Irene and Luca, an expatriate European couple living in Tangiers, Morocco. Irene and Luca are part of a decadent community of artists and aristocrats who choose to ignore Tangiers' growing Islamic fundamentalist movement. When Irene is diagnosed with breast cancer, Luca retreats into his garden, shutting himself off not only from Irene's pain but from the world around him as well. According to Library Journal critic Philip Santo, "this excellent translation should go some way toward building Pasti the kind reputation in America that he enjoys in Europe."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, Philip Santo, review of The Age of Flowers, April 1, 2003, p. 130.*