Publication Date: October 15, 2013
This book contains three short stories set in the Italian province of Campania. “I am Super Legend” is about a group of men headed to a championship and somewhat cursed. “The Child Comes Home” is about a runaway and the mother who refuses to give up on him. “Look at Me” is a story of a boy helping his father’s best friend who he assumes to be mute find love.
I received a free copy of this novel from the author’s publisher Frisch and Co. in exchange for my review.
The three short stories of [easyazon-link asin=”B00F965ZAA” locale=”us”]I Stole the Rain[/easyazon-link] are happy, dark, humorous, cynical, charming and sad. They are the human experience. Ruotolo creates truly quirky characters that are very well developed. You know the young focus of “I am Super Legend” has quite the challenge of overcoming his accidental reputation. Should he overcome it or can he work it to his advantage? In the time we spend with him, it’s hard not to feel sorry for him and hope for his success and in this wish, a connection is made. The bond we build is a testament to the talent of Ruotolo.
There is a classic feel to Ruotolo’s modern stories. Each story contains a worldly wisdom or inherent truth that will lead the reader to lean back in their chair upon finishing and ask, “Did I just learn something?” Ruotolo doesn’t preach to her readers but charms us into getting the deeper meaning, and I find that quality as a reader to be endearing.
A drawback of [easyazon-link asin=”B00F965ZAA” locale=”us”]I Stole the Rain[/easyazon-link] is that there are times when the translation is very awkward. It must be terribly difficult to translate an artistic work, especially given that translating too literally can interfere with the intent of the work. Many times over the course of “I Stole the Rain,” I had to stop reading to go back and try to work out awkward reading to the base meaning.
Overall these character sketches for southern Italy serve as a nice little time away. My favorite story was “Look at Me” which contained many layers within the narrative. The young boy who is attempting to match make develops understanding over time of what he may not have noticed before. The talent of this author shines through awkward wordings. While I’m not sure that I would read her again, I thoroughly enjoyed [easyazon-link asin=”B00F965ZAA” locale=”us”]I Stole the Rain[/easyazon-link].
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