Publisher's Synopsis
Fiction. Translated by Antony Shugaar. The winner of the SIAE (Italian Society of Authors and Publishers) Sillumina competition, THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE SUICIDES is Sofia Pirandello's first book. Published in 2018, the novel immediately attracted interest both at the Turin Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair. Based on the plot of Voltaire's Candide, the plot revolves around the equally candid Candido, who is suffering the torments of hell in the aftermath of his love affair with Lara. Bereft, he decides to end it all. Out of a mix of indolence and cowardice, he cannot bring himself to commit the ultimate act of self-abnegation, and comes to a comfortable rationalization. After all, he reasons, the normal course of life is bound to kill him sooner rather than later. He decides to go out into the world, where death can more easily find him. The minute he sets foot outside his front door, he is caught in a succession of absurd encounters that sweep him up into an edifying if harrowing adventure. Candide falls victim to a terrible accident, then meets a distant relative, is held hostage by two decidedly anomalous drug dealers, and meets an old and pixilated interstellar traveler. In the wake of this cavalcade of experiences, Candido is another man, and his gloomy goal in life, or death, takes on an unexpected dimension.
