Book description
The story of Gabriele D'Annunzio, poet, daredevil - and Fascist.
In September 1919 Gabriele D'Annunzio, successful poet and occasional
politician, declared himself Commandante of the city of Fiume in modern
day Croatia. His intention - to establish a utopia based on his fascist
and artistic ideals. It was the dramatic pinnacle to an outrageous career.
Lucy Hughes-Hallett charts the controversial life of D'Annunzio, the
debauched artist who became a national hero. His evolution from idealist
Romantic to radical right-wing revolutionary is a political parable.
Through his ideological journey, culminating in the failure of the Fiume
endeavour, we witness the political turbulence of early 20th century
Europe and the emergence of fascism.
In The Pike, Hughes-Hallett addresses the cult of nationalism and the
origins of political extremism - and at the centre of the book stands
the charismatic D'Annunzio: a figure as deplorable as he is fascinating.
Praise for 'The Pike':
'Hugely enjoyable … Hughes-Hallett has a great talent for encapsulating
an era or an attitude …The fact that almost 700 pages flew by bears
testimony to how pleasurable and readable those pages were' Sunday Times
'This is a magnificent portrait of a preposterous character …
D'Annunzio was deplorable, brilliant, ludicrous, tragic but above all
irresistible, as hundreds of women could testify. His biographer has
done him full justice' Francis Wheen, Daily Mail
'Hughes-Hallett chooses not to judge, taking the position that
disapproval is not an interesting response. Instead she teases apart the
man from his self-made myth… She is never seduced by her subject,
repeatedly reminding us of his fundamental lack of empathy, something
elegantly encapsulated by the cover image itself: D'Annunzio mirrored,
frozen in self-admiration' Daily Telegraph
'A splendid subject for a biography… Hughes-Hallet dances her way
through this extraordinary life in a style that is playful, punchy and
generally pleasing… In death, as in life, the amazing story of
D'Annunzio is painted in primary colours, but with the darkest shadows' Observer
'Beautiful, strange and original… an extraordinarily intimate portrait'
New Statesman
'Exceptional book … Hughes-Hallett has done an admirable job' Scotsman
'The Pike stands out for its imaginative exploration of a poet,
although barely read today, still serves as a template for the politics
of bombast and bunga-bunga' Spectator
'The story is told by Hughes-Hallett with verve, a fine storyteller's
touch and an acute eye for period paraphernalia and sensibility… The
whole is enthralling curiosity' Literary Review
'[A] richly kaleidoscopic biography … In this scintillating study, full
of wit and irony, she plumbs the depths of D'Annunzio's horrible
fascination' The Oldie Lucy Hughes-Hallett is the author of Cleopatra:
Histories, Dreams and Distortions which was published in 1990 to wide
acclaim, and Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen, published in 2004,
which garnered similar praise. Cleopatra won the Fawcett Prize and the
Emily Toth Award. Lucy Hughes-Hallett reviews for the Sunday Times. She
lives in London.
