Compared to the previous works, the change of register is evident, but what does not change is the affection of the Italian public for Joël Dicker’s ‘pen’: the new novel by the Geneva author, The catastrophic visit to the zoo (In this article it is possible to read our review) published by La Nave di Teseo, one week after the bookstore release it was in fact purchased by more than 44 thousand readers, hoisting it in the first place in the national sales ranking.
With his new novel, agile, immediate and intended for a much wider audience of readers – from 7 to 120 years suggests Dicker in his afterword -, the writer transforms a simple visit to the zoo into an unpredictable path, intertwining reality and imagination with skill.
Democracy, a ‘yellow’ for adults: there are six small plagues to explain it to him
The catastrophic visit to the zoo It is a yellow with a strong educational and didactic power, which in a light -hearted way, but with depth and modesty, teaches the reader what democracy is and why it is so important and fundamental, all the more now. The protagonists of the story are six children – five males and a female -, only pupils of the school of green peaks: a special school “where children do not go to other schools”.
When the building, “a cowted cottage”, mysteriously floods, the young people begin to investigate what happened and, above all, who is the responsible. Thus begins an adventure in which six ‘little ones’ find themselves relating in a ramshackle, but at the same time profitable, with adults – starting from the grandmother of one of them, a great passionate of police shows. An adventure marked by a series of small catastrophes, linked to each other, which will eventually upset in the catastrophic visit to the zoo which gives the novel.
The author
Joël Dicker was born in Geneva in 1985. His novels are translated into 40 languages and sold more than 20 million copies. He published the truth about the Harry Quebert case (2013, from which the event series of the same name was taken with Patrick Dempsey and the direction of Jean-Jacques Annaud), the last days of our fathers (2015), the book of the Baltimore (2016), the disappearance of Stephanie Mailer (2018), the enigma of the Chamber 622 (2020), the Alaska Sanders case (2022). Wild animal (2024). All his novels are published by the Tenseo ship. He received the Prix Des écrivains Genevois 2010, the Grand Prix du Roman de l’Académie Française 2012 and the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens 2012.
The cover
