Known simply as ‘Il Pupo’, Aulo Grandoli has spent his life working as an alabastraio in Volterra. He is 84 years old. Someone who has known him for a number of years is sports writer Luca Caioli. One late summer’s evening the two get to talking about the past after a dinner with friends and family. Il Pupo tells Luca’s 16-year-old son: ‘The world is broken. Who knows if you young people will manage to fix it.’ Struck by Il Pupo’s comments, Luca decides to tell his story. Thirty-three hours of conversation later and the book Io, Il Pupo is the result. It is the story of a craft that is disappearing, of a forgotten ideal, of a town, Volterra. It is a book of memories, artworks and opinions. A dialogue that looks back at life in Italy from the 1930s to the present day, offering a snapshot of a country that no longer exists and a world in need of change.
Comments