In Calabria

Title:

In Calabria

Author:

Beagle, Peter S., author.

ISBN:

9781616962487

Personal Author:

Beagle, Peter S., author.

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Information:

San Francisco : Tachyon, 2017.

Physical Description:

174 pages ; 22 cm

Abstract:

"Claudio Bianchi has lived alone for many years on a hillside in Southern Italy's scenic Calabria. Set in his ways and suspicious of outsiders, Claudio has always resisted change, preferring farming and writing poetry. But one chilly morning, as though from a dream, an impossible visitor appears at the farm. When Claudio comes to her aid, an act of kindness throws his world into chaos. Suddenly he must stave off inquisitive onlookers, invasive media, and even more sinister influences" -- provided by publisher.

Subject Term:

Unicorns -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Calabria (Italy) -- Fiction.

Genre:

Fantasy fiction.

Document ID:

SD_ILS:2257744

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Collection	Collection	Call Number	Status
Searching... Fresno Central Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Science Fiction Area	BEAGLE PE In_cala	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Gillis Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Science Fiction Area	BEAGLE PE In_cala	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

From the acclaimed author of The Last Unicorn comes a new, exquisitely-told fable for the modern age. Claudio Bianchi has lived alone for many years on a hillside in Southern Italy's scenic Calabria. Set in his ways and suspicious of outsiders, Claudio has always resisted change, preferring farming and writing poetry. But one chilly morning, as though from a dream, an impossible visitor appears at the farm. When Claudio comes to her aid, an act of kindness throws his world into chaos. Suddenly he must stave off inquisitive onlookers, invasive media, and even more sinister influences. Lyrical, gripping, and wise, In Calabria confirms Peter S. Beagle's continuing legacy as one of fantasy's most legendary authors.

Author Notes

Peter S. Beagle was born in Manhattan in April of 1939. During his senior year of high school, Beagle entered a poem and a short story in the 1955 Scholastic Writing Awards Contest, not knowing that the Grand Prize was a college education. He won that prize and went on to spend four years at the University of Pittsburgh after graduating from high school in 1955. In his sophomore year at the University of Pittsburgh, Beagle entered another contest, winning first place again in Seventeen Magazine's Short Story Contest. At the age of 19, he published "A Fine and Private Place." Beagle graduated college with a degree in Creative Writing and a Spanish minor and then spent a year overseas. When he returned, his new-found agent had enrolled him in a writing workshop at Stanford.

After his first few published stories, Beagle supported himself and his family as a freelancer for many years. In the 70's he began to write screenplays, as well as take up the hobby of singing folk songs at a local club. Beagle has published music as well as books, both his passions, and both lucrative. Beagle gives lectures and readings at universities, and also hosts writing workshops at schools such as the University of Washington and Clarion West. His works have been translated into 15 languages. Beagle has also written a script for Star Trek: The Next Generation and the screenplay for the animated feature version of The Lord of the Rings.

In 1987, Beagle's "The Last Unicorn" was proclaimed the Number 5 All Time Fantasy Novel. That same year, "The Innkeeper's Song" won the Mythopoetic Fantasy Award. In 1997, "The Unicorn Sonata" won the Locus Poll Award for Best Novella, and in 1998, "Giant Bones" won the same award as well as being nominated for the 1998 World Fantasy Award.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Acclaimed fantasist Beagle (Summerlong) sets this charming, lyrical tale of unicorns and love on a poor little hillside farm in the toe of boot-shaped Italy, where 47-year-old Claudio Bianchi scratches out a meager existence for himself, old dog Garibaldi, goat Cherubino, three cows, a pig, and three cats. Claudio writes poetry, too, and one day a golden-white unicorn appears to him as a gentle reminder of the freedom animals and humans have lost. The unicorn becomes the one miracle of Claudio's life-and the ultimate tourist attraction. He protects her as best he can from hordes of reporters, television crews and helicopters, animal rights activists, yearning yokels, and even the Calabrian 'Ndràngheta mob. After Claudio helps the unicorn deliver her colt, his heart, frozen by an earlier tragedy, warms to Giovanna, the intrepid 20-ish sister of the postman. Neatly playing the strictures of Claudio's simple rural life against the shimmering wildness of the unicorn, Beagle's kindly fable shows how a man who seems to have nothing can really have everything-with just a touch of magic. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

This is a pleasant snack of a story about an Italian farmer who encounters a unicorn that changes his life for the better. Curmudgeonly Claudio Bianchi lives alone on a remote, wind-swept farm in southern Italy, and he wants to keep it that way, thank you very much. The magical universe has other plans for him, as he discovers a mysterious and pregnant unicorn serenely grazing on his land. Day by day, Claudio comes out of his shell and finds his inner poet with a fledgling ability to love again. This is a story more about redemption and healing than about unicorns, but its soft and subtle phrasing is a pleasing and pastoral look at the power of forgiveness. The unicorns are as otherworldly and majestic as one would hope, and the touches of magic are like wisps of a song you can't quite remember a little bit frustrating not to have more supernatural elements, but yet it stays tantalizing to the end. Beagle's many fans will be pleased.--McCammond-Watts, Heather Copyright 2017 Booklist