Name: Three O’Clock in the Morning
ISBN: 9781922268792

Gianrico Carofiglio

From one of Italy’s best-selling authors a coming-of-age story set over 48 hours in the streets of Marseille, as a father and son connect for the first time

Three O’Clock in the Morning

"In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning." - F. Scott Fitzgerald A coming-of-age novel—a heady union of Before Sunrise and Beautiful Ruins—about a father and his teenage son who are forced to spend two sleepless nights exploring the city of Marseilles, a journey of unexpected adventure and profound discovery that helps them come to truly know each other. Antonio is eighteen years old and on the cusp of adulthood. His father, a brilliant mathematician, hasn’t played a large part in his life since divorcing Antonio’s mother but when Antonio is diagnosed with epilepsy, they travel to Marseille to visit a doctor who may hold the hope for an effective treatment. It is there, in a foreign city, under strained circumstances, that they will get to know each other and connect for the first time. A beautiful, gritty, and charming port city where French old-world charm meets modern bohemia, father and son stroll the streets sharing strained small talk. But as the hours pass and day gives way to night, the two find themselves caught in a series of caffeine-imbued adventures involving unexpected people (and unforeseen trysts) that connect father and son for the first time. As the two discuss poetry, family, sex, math, death, and dreams, their experience becomes a mesmerizing 48-hour microcosm of a lifetime relationship. Both learn much about illusions and regret, about talent and redemption, and, most of all, about love. Elegant, warm, and tender, set against the vivid backdrop of 1980s Marseille and its beautiful calanques—a series of cliffs and bays on the city’s outskirts—Three O’Clock in the Morning is a bewitching coming-of-age story imbued with nostalgia and a revelatory exploration of time and fate, youth and adulthood. Translated from the Italian by Howard Curtis

A Novel

Three O'Clock in the Morning

Fenix Voliton 

i should get to know my parents for the first time in my life.

"Antonio is a boy on the cusp of adulthood. His father, once a brilliant mathematician, hasn't figured much in his life since the divorce from his mother. But then Antonio is diagnosed with epilepsy and a hope for a cure takes father and son to a doctor in Marseille, where French old world charm meets a modern city of bohemians. There they are advised to spend two days and two nights together without sleep in order to trigger - and resolve the medication for - his condition. In this beautiful, gritty, and charming foreign city, Antonio and his father walk the streets and strain for conversation - until the late nights and caffeine-imbued adventures lead them to a series of unexpected people (and trysts) that connect them together for the first time. As the two cover poetry, family, sex, math, death, and dreams, their story becomes a mesmerizing 48-hour microcosm of a lifetime relationship as they discover much about illusions and regret, about talent and redemption, and, most of all, about love. Elegant, warm, and tender, set against the vivid backdrop of 1980s Marseille and its beautiful calanques, Three O'Clock in the Morning casts a spell on its readers - an unforgettable story imbued with nostalgia and a revelatory exploration of time and fate"--

Three O’Clock in the Morning

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