Barletta: Presentation of the book “Bastard Stories” by Davide Desario

Friday 28 February at 18,00:XNUMX pm at the Sala Rossa “Vittorio Palumbieri” in the Barletta Castle, with the intervention of the Author, the book presentation “Storie bastarde” by Davide Desario will take place, Director of the Adnkronos news agency and current president of the jury for the selection of the city as “Italian Capital of Culture”. The event, sponsored by the Municipal Administration, is promoted by the Circolo della Stampa “San Francesco di Sales” in synergy with the Rotary Club Barletta, the Comitato italiano pro Canne della Battaglia ODV and the Archeoclub d’Italia APS Sede storica di Canne della Battaglia Barletta. Institutional greetings from the Mayor Cosimo Damiano Cannito and the Councilor Oronzo Cilli for the Municipal Administration and from Vincenzo Rutigliano for the Circolo della Stampa “San Francesco di Sales”. Angelo Mellone, director of Entertainment Day Time – Rai, will speak. Moderator: Rosario Tornasiello, director of “Nuovo Quotidiano di Puglia”.

The book

Extreme outskirts of Rome. A Wild West of shacks, shacks, and apartment blocks on the seashore, where the line between life and crime is very thin. A group of kids live here, where Pier Paolo Pasolini was killed, they cross the pine forest where they happen to play with the corpse of a hanged man, they meet the "good guys" of the Banda della Magliana and the red primrose of the Red Brigades, Barbara Balzerani. It could be any place on the outskirts of Italy, like today's Caivano, Tor Bella Monaca, Quarto Oggiaro, Scampia or the Zen of Palermo: a land where one can survive between hope and frustration.

In the background, the news of the time flows, such as the tragedy of Vermicino. Brawls, beatings between reds and blacks, slingshots and stolen scooters, muggings and bets, rivalries between enemy gangs, the stakeouts in trees to watch secluded couples making love, conquered women and women only dreamed of become magnifying glasses on a youth looking for a future. And suddenly those kids find themselves men. But they left too many friends on the street: between overdoses, murders and infamous destinies. Innocent challenges and dangerous games, a humanity “de lama e de fero”, the metropolis and the city. A book that takes us into the heart of childhood and youth, that speaks the language of the street, melancholic and rough at the same time. Bastard stories that remind us how we were. And help us understand how we are.

The author

Davide Desario, born in Rome in 1971, has deep roots in Barletta and is still present in public memory: in 2023, the building in Via Cavour where the branch of the issuing institute was located was named after his father Vincenzo, a prominent figure as Director General of the Bank of Italy. He worked for a long time for «Il Messaggero» dealing with crime news, politics and current affairs until he became editor-in-chief of the newspaper's website, which he led for five years. He was director of the newspaper «Leggo». In September 2023 he was called to direct the Adnkronos press agency. He has received recognition for his investigations at the Biagio Agnes Award, the Margutta Award, the Magna Grecia Awards and that of the Unione Cronisti italiani. He was appointed for two consecutive years as president of the commission for the Italian Capital of Culture 2025 and 2026. He divides his time between Rome, London and Milano. Expert in web journalism and social networks. He is a guest on the main Italian talk shows on political, economic and lifestyle topics. For Avagliano Editore he published #RomaBarzotta. Chronicle of a city always in the middle (2015) and #RomaBarzotta 2. New chronicles of a city always in the middle (2017).