A world of books and nature

I'm Italian and I've never lived elsewhere; there are few countries I would choose to start a new life, and one of them is Japan. I work as a researcher in the field of international security, but I also pursue a secondary job that I love dearly: I am an editorial reader for one of the largest publishing houses in my country. My job involves reading foreign editorial proposals sent to my publisher by literary agents or other foreign editors. I read books in English, French, and Spanish. My task is to provide an evaluation that can help the publisher select a title among many, which may be published someday. I'm not sure if this role exists in other countries; in Italy, few publishers choose to maintain this job. As a diligent reader, I must evaluate according to specific parameters but also provide my intimate, instinctual commentary.

I mostly read at night because I sleep little. When I'm not reading for work, whether for the publisher or my primary job, which keeps me busy with many socio-political essays, I read for the love of discovery. I especially love weird, disturbing, unknown, forgotten readings.

I live on one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean, Sardinia. I lived in Rome for many years, where I still have ties for work and family. Rome is magnificent, but culturally sleepy. Here in Sardinia, my life is quieter, more linear. The sea is not far away, nor are the woods. Here, there are vast empty spaces of people but rich in untouched nature. I feel a sense of estrangement for a world that rushes, worries, ignores the individual, and seeks to survive at all costs or to live best by crushing social values.

While my work revolves around war, conflicts, and terrorism, in my more intimate and circumscribed world, I continue to daydream about new horizons. One day I will see Japan; that is one of my dreams to turn into a goal.