L'ASSEMBLA DEGLI ANIMALI

A book for all ages, this innovative fairy tale tells the most compelling story of our time.

A raven is flying in the sky, running late for a very important meeting. It has to reach a secret place that all animals have known since the day they were born. Humans knew about this place, too, but they have now forgotten it. Everyone is there, the lion, the whale, the eagle, the mouse... Even a dog and a cat. They have gathered the council as the ecological emergency can no longer be ignored, and the Earth must be saved from humans. After long discussions, they decide to send a terrible warning: an epidemic. But they soon discover that, before they can save the Earth from humans, they must first save the them from a much older evil. Narrated from the point of view and with the voice of the animals, according to the tradition of moral apologists, of the allegories of the bêtes savantes and of the classics of ancient and modern literature, L'assemblea degli animali has the exciting simplicity of a contemporary fairy tale. Yet, at times Filelfo makes use of "words that are not his own" and often conceals literary quotations between the lines. They are listed at the end, but as a reader, you can try to spot them like pebbles in the woods to find your way back to the path. For those who have forgotten their culture risk forgetting nature. Filelfo was born in Greece to a family of Italian origin. His grandfather, from Piedmont, was a member of the Partecipanza dei Filelfi, an ancient guild of trades. He learned classical Greek from his mother from a very early age; and from his father he learned how to produce and process mastic. For some years he moved with his family to Madagascar, then he arrived in Rome and attended high school there. He continued his studies in a small provincial university town working as a proof-reader, translator and editor of encyclopaedias. He now lives and teaches in the Agro Romano.