Saturday, September 7, 2013, 2 PM at the San Leandro Main Library

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

The story begins and ends in the Cinque Terre region on the northwest coast of Italy, on the Ligurian Sea, the part of the Mediterranean which also borders Monaco, France, and Corsica (birthplace of Napoleon). The name means "five lands" in Italian and refers to the five villages of Monterosso al Mare, Vernaza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. These villages are not reachable by auto, but only train, footpaths, and the sea. They are part of the Cinque Terre National Park and are a UNESCO World Heritage site. When I examined the cover of the book, I couldn't decide whether it was a photo or a drawing; the colors seemed too vivid to be real. I haven't yet made up my mind about the cover, but it could well be a photo as here is a picture of the village of Manarola, which may be the village pictured on the cover of the book.

Here is a picture of the Albergo Pasquale in Monterosso al Mare, where Jess Walter says he was first inspired to begin "the Italian novel."

This is a large statue of Neptune in Monterosso al Mare, which was created in 1910 by two natives of Monterosso who had gone to Argentina and returned. The supporting terrace was damaged from bombing of the adjoining villa during World War II, and the missing limbs and trident were the result of a storm in 1966.

This is Porto Venere, to the south of the Cinque Terre, a town which also figures prominently in the book.

On YouTube, I found this interview with Jess Walter about Beautiful Ruins.



In the above video, Jess Walter mentions he became a father at 19. Does this cause you to see the book in a different light? On YouTube, there is also a 26.5-minute video in which he answers readers' questions about the book. I am including it in the event that you have a half-hour to spare.



Finally, I can't leave without a word or two about Richard Burton. The title, Beautiful Ruins, is taken from a November 2010 article in The New Yorker, "Talk Story," by Louis Menand, about late night television, in which Menand discusses Dick Cavette's 1980 interviews with Richard Burton, saying "Burton,  fifty-four at the time, and already a beautiful ruin, was mesmerizing." If you have the time, the entire interview is embedded below. I started to watch it, and Menand is right, Burton is mesmerizing. I wound up watching 25 minutes before I knew it. I'm going to watch the whole thing. Wow.