The Break

As in his widely praised Fists, Pietro Grossi's The Break brings out the epic human drama in a tale of everyday life in his characteristically lucid, stripped-down prose.

Dino is a placid, unambitious man. Living in a small provincial town, he and his wife spend their time planning journeys to faraway places – journeys they never take. Dino's only passion is billiards, and he spends his evenings in the local billiards hall honing his technique. One day, however, Dino's quiet life is interrupted: his wife is pregnant. This the first in a series of events that shake him from his slumber and force him to test himself for the first time.

Translated from the Italian by award-winning translator Howard Curtis, Pietro Grossi''s The Break echoes the styles of Hamingway, Salinger and is published by Pushkin Press

'Small and perfectly formed … reaching its end leaves the reader desirous to start all over again'

– Amanda Hopkinson, Independent

'Howard Curtis's translation moves with the swiftness of Dino's cueball'

– Guardian

Pietro Grossi, writer and translator, was born in 1978 in Florence and currently lives and works in Tuscany. His novel Fists is also available from Pushkin Press.