A Tomb on the Periphery

John Domini's latest novel returns to the troubled Naples of last year's Earthquake I.D. but spins a new tale: part crime story, part ghost story, part coming of age, part redemption song, and more, all having to do with Italy's underground market in ancient jewelry. Gival Press selected the manuscript as runner-up for their national award.

Early in 2010, A Tomb on the Periphery made the short list for "the best of international publishing" at the London Book Festival.

Aaron Plesak has a fine and brainy essay-review about A Tomb on the Periphery in the February 2010 Collagist. "No object encountered is neutral... we are reminded how a tiny item or gesture may conjure the past... the pleasure is in discovering the characters." Many thanks to Aaron and the editors.

Thanks to Fred Gardaphe for his review of A Tomb on the Periphery in Frai Noi, Nov. 2009: "a thoroughly engaging story that stays true to its characters... Domini gets it and gets it right."

Thanks to Fred Misurella for his review in VIA: "tremendous entertainment value as well as literary heft... A novel of energy and intelligence."

Thanks to Jason Pettus for his review of A Tomb on the Periphery for the Chicago Center for Literature & Photography. Pettus gave the novel 9.6 stars out of 10, and said it compared favorably to the work of Michael Chabon and Cormac McCarthy, "stunning in its quality... a fabled rare book."

Bookslut.com, Oct. '08: thanks to Michael Madison, who writes "Tomb on the Periphery takes the trappings of noir then transcends the genre... lush and generous."

Thanks to Linda Lappin for her review of A Tomb on the Periphery in GentlyReadLiterature.com. Lappin says the novel is "a flash of authentic Naples.... Extraordinary energy and plasticity... startles, stabs, tickles and at times dazzles."

Thanks to Jennifer Prado for her interview -- plus -- on the Emerge blog. Prado calls Tomb on the Periphery "authentic in every aspect...," its style a "balance of free-wheeling... associations and humor..." recalling "James Joyce and Woody Allen."

Thanks to Dennis Barone for his penetrating review of A Tomb on the Periphery in Italian Americana Winter 2009. "Domini's writing might be called projectile-prose. Exhibiting a Jamesian complexity, ...he demonstrates a lively, generous mind in action through swift moving, sonorous language."

Thanks to Janyce Stefan-Cole and Main Street Rag: "As in Orhan Pamuk... The reader is transported to ancient times and modern plights, ...while wrapped up in a suspenseful tale."

Thanks to Lew Diuguid and Johns Hopkins Magazine for selecting A Tomb on the Periphery for their "Shelf Life" column, November '08. "As the sauce thickens... all of the characters take on texture...."

Thanks to Matt Miller and Des Moines Cityview for featuring A Tomb on the Periphery in their Fall Books Guide. "Fabrizzio is caught between his morals and his impulses... A fast-paced crime novel with a little romance." Thanks to the Midwest Book Review: "From first to last, A Tomb on the Periphery is a must." Thanks also to Adele Ver Steeg, in the The Iowan, and to Natalie Jacobsen McCracken for her fine work in Bostonia.

Italian publication is under contract with Tullio Pironti Editore, the first Italian house to translate Don DeLillo. The novel should appear in 2010.

Books & Rough Business

John Domini's translation of Tullio Pironti's memoir, Books & Rough Business, is on Red Hen Press. In Italy, the memoir received over 100 reviews, and plans are in place for a movie adaptation. Thanks to George Guida and Italian Americana: "Pironti’s memoir goes beyond cultural history and guidebook. It offers an insider’s perspective ...on Italy’s continuing quest for functionality as a nation.... It tells the story of a man, his city, and his country coming of age...."

Earthquake I.D.

The Italian translation of Earthquake I.D., titled Terremoto Napoletano, has been named the runner-up for the Domenico Rea prize, one of the most distinguished literary prizes in Italy. A panel of six judges selected the finalists.

Terremoto Napoletano was translated by Stefano Manferlotti. The press is Tullio Pironti Editore, the first Italian house to publish Don DeLillo. In Italy the book has received a lot of attention. La Repubblica, the largest paper in Italy, praised the novel as "dense with surprises... with so many stories and characters knit together in rhythm and in harmony." In Il Mattino, Fabrizio Coscia calls it: "a voyage of initiation... that seduces and wounds... in a city unmasked by Domini's style, refined, visionary, and alert to paradox." In Roma, Marco Catizone writes that Terremoto Napoletano: "captures all the subversive possibilities of language in a kaleidoscope of vibrant sound and image."

The first novel in John Domini's new Naples sequence, Earthquake I.D. appeared in spring '07 and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Richard Ford, an earlier Pulitzer winner, called it "a wonderful novel of an old-fashioned sort...a rich feast." Steve Erickson, author of Zeroville, called Domini "a writer of the world, with a deft talent for negotiating the currents of our age."

Thanks to American Book Review, July/August 2009, and Ryan McCray: "Earthquake I.D. ambitiously mines the intersection between contrasts...to show how extremes bring out our truest forms. ...Barb and Jay's story is touching, as good as anything in Talking Heads:77."

Thanks to Jason Pettus and the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography for a wonderful review of Earthquake I.D., online at January 9, 2009. Pettus gave the novel 9.5 stars out of 10: "I'm in the presence of greatness... one of the best-written books of our times."

Thanks to Fred Gardpahe for his thoughtful review of Earthquake I.D. in Fra Noi. "A well focused plot tightly wound... Enough mystery to keep the pages turning while telling a contemporary story that can touch us all."

The Emerging Writers Network, in a four-star review, called it "a great, jam-packed novel." Bostonia praised how "surprises abound in the political intrigue." Artscene Iowa described it as "extraordinary... tightly woven," and added "Domini has a knack for creating striking moments... and finds a route toward the essential nature of families." Thomas Burke had a long, insightful, and complimentary review in The Literary Review.

Talking Heads: 77

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