{"product_id":"a-boy-asleep-under-the-sun-versions-of-sandro-penna-paperback","title":"A Boy Asleep Under the Sun: Versions of Sandro Penna - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePeter Valente\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeter Valente's first encounter with Sandro Penna's poetry was while translating Pier Paolo Pasolini. At the time, Valente was reading a biography on Pasolini and learned of his close friendship with Penna. Pasolini insisted that among serious readers of poetry, Penna could not be ignored. Born in Perugia on June 12, 1906, Sandro Penna lived most of his life in Rome (he died there on January 21, 1977), except for a brief period in Milan where he worked as a library clerk. When Pasolini arrived in Rome in 1950 he sought out Penna to \"show him around.\" He knew that Penna was in love with the same \u003ci\u003eragazzi\u003c\/i\u003e who prowled the outskirts of Rome.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his poetry Penna clearly says who he is and how he feels. That is a rare enough quality these days. He moves away from the trappings of identity toward an honest expression of love. In Penna's work the beautiful is not conscious of itself and is therefore erotic: \"Is not the beauty of those who are unaware of their beauty \/ more beautiful than those who are aware?\" He is critical of those who hide their desires behind a thin façade of modesty: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere they are, these lords of life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey are very modest, indeed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven with their senses fully aroused, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethey manage to offend no one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePenna never hid his sexuality in interviews. He once told a reporter (who probably had to pay dearly for the interview), \"I am not a homosexual. I am a \u003ci\u003epederasta....\u003c\/i\u003eHomosexuality is a privilege.\" Penna's homosexuality is complicated in one sense by a moral dilemma: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe problem of sex\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003econsumes my entire life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI wonder at each moment\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhether I am doing the right thing\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eor the wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut there is another sense in which Penna accepts the impossibility of a moral resolution to his \"problem\" and instead turns this negative to a positive value: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are always boys in my poems.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut I do not know how to speak of anything else.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEverything else is just a tedious noise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI am unable to sing of Good Deeds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince his poems chiefly concern homosexual love, they face being relegated to a gay-only ghetto of readers or to another ghetto that even homosexuals avoid: \u003ci\u003epederastia\u003c\/i\u003e. This is a problematic issue in the United States where scandal surrounding sexual orientation is still prevalent. But more importantly, there are no glamorous pronouncements or concern with gender politics in Penna's poetry. You also won't find a vision of historical process or a mass of physical details. What you will find is an attachment to everyday reality. Penna's poetry is candid, uncluttered, minimalist, and of profound lyrical intensity and as Pasolini, a great supporter of Penna's work, wrote in the 1970 preface to Penna's collected poems, he is, \"perhaps the greatest and most joyful...Italian poet.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeter Valente\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Salerno, Italy and grew up in New Jersey. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. He is the author of the chapbook, \u003ci\u003eForge of Words a Forest\u003c\/i\u003e (Jensen Daniels, 1998), and his poems have appeared in journals such as \u003ci\u003eMirage #4\/Periodical\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFirst Intensity\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eProsodia\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAufgabe\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTalisman\u003c\/i\u003e. In the late 1990s, he co-edited the poetry magazines \u003ci\u003eVapor\/Strains\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLady Blizzard's Batmobile\u003c\/i\u003e and wrote articles on jazz for the \u003ci\u003eEdgewater Reporter\u003c\/i\u003e. In 2010, he turned to filmmaking and has completed 60 shorts to date, 24 of which have been screened at Anthology Film Archives. He has translated the work of Luis Cernuda, Nanni Balestrini and Pier Paolo Pasolini, and he is the co-translator of the chapbook, \u003ci\u003eSelected Late Letters of Antonin Artaud, 1945-1947 \u003c\/i\u003e(Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2014). His book \u003ci\u003eThe Artaud Variations \u003c\/i\u003eis forthcoming from Spuyten Duyvil.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeter Valente was born in Salerno, Italy and grew up in New Jersey. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. He is the author of the chapbook, Forge of Words a Forest (Jensen Daniels, 1998), and his poems have appeared in journals such as Mirage #4\/Periodical, First Intensity, Prosodia, Aufgabe and Talisman. In the late 1990s, he co-edited the poetry magazines Vapor\/Strains and Lady Blizzard's Batmobile and wrote articles on jazz for the Edgewater Reporter. In 2010, he turned to filmmaking and has completed 60 shorts to date, 24 of which have been screened at Anthology Film Archives. He has translated the work of Luis Cernuda, Nanni Balestrini and Pier Paolo Pasolini, and he is the co-translator of the chapbook, Selected Late Letters of Antonin Artaud, 1945-1947 (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2014). His book The Artaud Variations is forthcoming from Spuyten Duyvil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 210\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.44 x 7.99 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 06, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52726313287987,"sku":"9780692296936","price":38.05,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/U1ltR1pScXlrbG1GaDNvL2Z4VWdMQT09.webp?v=1763733655","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/a-boy-asleep-under-the-sun-versions-of-sandro-penna-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}