A heavy lightness. This is what he leaves, through his writings, Stefano Benni, narrator, poet and playwright who passed away on 9 September, at 78 years old, after a long illness. The lightness of the linguistic inventions and the flashes of genius, the specific weight of his satire and the grotesque parodies of reality. Acute observer of the reality that he transposed into his pages by transfiguring him into creations at the limit of theonical, hiding – but not too much – criticism. Parodie orchestrator and representations outside the box, but firmly anchored to the ordinary.

There was a first one and there will be a after Stefano Benni. A phrase made that never as in this case corresponds to the truth. Insuced innovator, a chameleonic author capable of effectively proof of different genres, has conquered different generations of readers also for his ability to arrive at the average reader without expanding in banality. His literary production is very large and consists of seventeen novels, twelve collections of stories, not to mention the poetic collections and theatrical texts. He has been called ‘the wolf’ for his shy character, but also for his ability to move with ease between narrative, verses, dramaturgy and journalism. Choosing five novels from its production is very limiting, but those that follow certainly represent a significant cross -section of its ability to tell the world by reinventing and deforming it, with class and acumen.

Sport Bar (1976)

Sport bar It is the first book by Stefano Benni, published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore in March 1976. By now a classic of humorous narrative that navigates between real situations stereotyped and extreme. Sport bar It is the exhilarating portrait of a provincial world that no longer exists: that of ramshackle flipper, chatter from bars and pasta exhibited in the counter. At the same time comedy and collective memory of an Italy that is no longer there, but which portrays situations that are still deeply current.

Earth! (1983)

Earth! (1983) It is a science fiction novel that puts Italy of the eighties to the sedan, pervaded by consumerism, ideological wars and anxiety of progress. We are in 2156: from an underground Paris and from an frozen world from nuclear wars, the spatial race towards a new more livable land starts. Against Proteo Tien, the very broken Sen-European astronave descend two colossal empires: the Samurai military empire, with a mini-spacecraft on which a Japanese general guides sixty teaser, and the Calalbakrab, the flying palace of the Amerorusso tyrant, the great Scorpio.

Meanwhile on the ground, to solve a mystery linked to the Inca civilization, a Fang, an old Chinese essay, and Frank Einstein, a nine -year -old genius of the computer, face each other. The key to the Inca mystery of the “heart of the earth” is also the key to the travel in space. The descent into the bowels of the Peruvian mountain of Fang and Einstein will soon appear in a magical and dark way to the journey of the Proteus in the horrors and hallucinations of the forgotten planets. Science, fantasy, philosophy arrest themselves in front of the mystery of an ancient civilization, and challenge the powerful of a warrior world.

Spentated warriors (1986) comedians

In Scared comedians warriors Benni portrays funny and naive characters, boys raised between cement and precariousness. Set in a warm summer, it tells the do -it -yourself investigations of a bizarre group of detectives, to discover those who killed Leone, king of the neighborhood and their football myth. Is one Recherche Metropolitan that alternates between movements and stalking, separations and meetings, ambushes and escapes, strokes of kungs and shots, love loves and friendships, visions and dreams. With a modulated and musical writing, Benni returned literary dignity to the comedian, as opposed to the tragic.

The Compagnia dei Celestini (1992)

The corrupt adult society seen through the eyes of children who become a symbol of resistance. Game and lexical inventions are the common thread of The Celestini Company (1992), who starts from a dark prophecy that appears on the walls and looms on the corrupt land of Gladonia, parody of Italy.

Memorino, Lucifer in Alì – the most rebellious spirits of the Celestini Orphanage – flee to be able to represent Gladonia at the ‘World Championship of Palastrada’, organized by the great bastard himself, protector of orphans all over the world. Don Biffero launch themselves to their pursuit, the prior zopilote with a diabolical secret, and Don Bracco, the hound of Orfani, as well as the famous and cynical fimic journalist with the faithful Scudiero-Fotografia Rosalino.

The grammar of God (2007)

Not a novel, but a collection of 25 stories in which, to use Benni’s words, between virtue and wisdom, between the noise of men and clichés “there are silent heroes and screaming charlatans of survival and abuse”. Among the pages, the writer highlights the most curious and unpredictable side of life, giving voice to typically ‘Bennian’ characters: a very faithful dog who always returns as a boomerang from the owner who wants to abandon him; A very powerful manager ready for anything to bring together the Beatles for a concert; an imaginative and romantic full -back on a broken suburban field; an arrogant and irredexisible businessman; And again a friar who chooses the silence to feel closer to God but is won by the beauty of a wetsuit. Just to name a few.