It was the year 2005 when Neri Pozza brought to Italy Shantaramfamous novel by the Australian writer Gregory David Roberts (released two years earlier): since then he has conquered, and continued to do so, millions of readers all over the world. A planetary success capable of linking different generations of readers.
Shantaram20
Shantaraminspired by the author by his own experience of life lived, is the story of a fugitive, robber, heroinomaniac, escaped from prison and who took refuge in India, where he then lived for ten years. On the run in Bombay, he opens a small clinic in an slum, works for the main boss of the local mafia, operates as a dirty money recycling, as a road soldier, faces Russian weapons in Afghanistan and earns the Nickname of Shantaram.
Twenty years after the historic release in Italy, the Milanese publishing house celebrates what a contemporary classic can rightly be defined, with a special appointment ad hoc. The event is titled Shantaram20 and is scheduled for Saturday 12 April: in the circumstance the novel will be honored with an active and shared communication and reading campaign, which will extend on several channels – physical and virtual – along the entire national territory.
Reading marathon
From 15.30 to 18 on Saturday, a reading marathon will be held of songs chosen by the novel in over 50 independent and chain bookstores and on the social channels of the publishing house. Reading some of the most memorable pages will alternate booksellers, books of the book and famous readers, such as Benedetta Parodi and its daughters Matilde and Eleonora. In addition, at the Il Tripicto di Milano and live online, starting from 18.30 Shantaram will be at the center of a special meeting of the Neri Pozza club, with exceptional guests, including the explorer Alex Bellini and the team of the publishing house, which will tell their experience of reading the saga.
The celebrations of Shantaram20 will not end on April 12: in Turin, in the days of the book of the book – and specifically on Saturday 15 May on the 500 track – there will be a further appointment dedicated to the anniversary of Roberts’ masterpiece.
Since 2005 “A novel of over a thousand pages conquers and seduces, season after season, year after year, tens of thousands of readers, who in turn make ‘speakers’ scene’ and report, advise, give this extraordinary book – comments the editorial director of Neri Pozza, Giovanni Francesio -. Readers of all kinds, of all ages, of every environment, which have made of Shantaram, the great epic adventure of Gregory David Roberts, one of the great classics of our literary contemporaneity, and we are really happy to celebrate, together with all its readers, the first twenty years of the Italian edition “.
