Oh, Serafina! : A Fable of Ecology, Lunacy, and Love

Heir to the FIBA button factory in Lombardy, Augustus is profiting from Italy’s postwar industrial boom. Yet the dreamy young man is far from your stereotypical industrialist. He is less interested in making money than in talking to the birds in the surrounding garden and in making love to a beautiful factory worker named Palmira. But when the money-hungry Palmira schemes to have him institutionalized, Augustus finds a new love among his fellow mental patients: flute-playing flower child Serafina. Can Augustus and Serafina find a way to break free and express their love of each other and of nature in this crazy world? Newly translated into English, Giuseppe Berto’s charming 1973 novel __Oh, Serafina!__ was one of the first works of Italian literature to deal with ecological themes while also questioning the destructive effects of industrial capitalism, the many forms spirituality might take, and the ways our society defines madness. This translation includes a foreword from literary scholar Matteo Gilebbi that provides biographical, historical, and philosophical context for appreciating this whimsical fable of ecology, lunacy, and love. Contents 9 Foreword: A Personal and Planetary Tale: Giuseppe Berto’s Bizarre Environmental Story 11 Translator’s Note 19 Author’s Note 23 1. Chapter the First 27 2. Chapter the Second 35 3. Chapter the Third 41 4. Chapter the Fourth 47 5. Chapter the Fifth 55 6. Chapter the Sixth 59 7. Chapter the Seventh 65 8. Chapter the Eighth 71 9. Chapter the Ninth 75 10. Chapter the Tenth 81 11. Chapter the Eleventh 91 12. Chapter the Twelfth 99 13. Chapter the Thirteenth 107 14. Chapter the Fourteenth 113 15. Chapter the Fifteenth 123 16. Chapter the Sixteenth 131 17. Chapter the Seventeenth 137 Epilogue 145 Notes on the Contributors 149