Discovery of the world - Luciana Castellina

Luciana Castellina is one of Italy's mostprominent left intellectuals and a cofounder ofthe newspaper il manifesto. In this coming-of agememoir, based on her diaries, she recountsher political awakening as a teenage girl inFascist Italy-where she used to play tenniswith Mussolini's daughter-and the subsequentdownfall of the regime. Discovery of the Worldis about war, anti-Semitism, anti-fascism,resistance, the belief in social justice, thecraving for experience, travel, political rallies,cinema, French intellectuals and FIAT workers,international diplomacy and friendship. All thisis built on an intricate web made of reason andaffection, of rational questioning and ironicself-narration as well as of profound nostalgia,disappointment and discovery.