"The story of a passion that verges on obsession: that of a writer for another language. For Jhumpa Lahiri, that love was for Italian, which first captivated and capsized her during a trip to Florence after college. And although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterward, true mastery had always eluded her. So in 2012, seeking full immersion, she decided to move to Rome with her family, for "a trial by fire, a sort of baptism" into a new language and world. In Rome, Lahiri began to read, and to write -- initially in her journal -- solely in Italian. This autobiographical work, written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice. Presented in a dual-language format, it is a book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Nabokov. A startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention. Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein. Jhumpa Lahiri Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" Lahiri was born in London, the daughter of Indian immigrants from West Bengal. Her family moved to the United States when she was two. Her debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her first novel, The Namesake, was adapted into the motion picture of the same name. She is a professor of creative writing at Princeton University."--Provided by publisher.

Text in Italian and English on facing pages. "Jhumpa Lahiri, winner of the Pulitzer Prize"--Cover.

The crossing -- The dictionary -- Love at first sight -- Exile -- The conversations -- The renunciation -- Reading with a dictionary -- Gathering words -- The diary -- The story -- The exchange -- The fragile shelter -- Impossibility -- Venice -- The imperfect -- The hairy adolescent -- The second exile -- The wall -- The triangle -- The metamorphosis -- Plumbing the depths -- The scaffolding -- Half-light -- Afterword.