The new Eataly Art House Foundation – E.ART.H., which takes up residence at the spaces of Verona’s historic Stazione Frigorifera Specializzata, Eataly’s new headquarters, is hosting the presentation of the book “È nata prima la gallina…forse” by Oscar Farinetti.

A wish, a suggestion, a eulogy to optimism.

The book collects 52 stories written along an entire year, one per week, in pages that tell about famous people presented at a crucial moment of their journey: a crisis, which then simply means choice. These are people who are able to make a decision, to measure themselves against time in a healthy way, but also to preserve a space for doubt so that, should they make a mistake, they can come back at full speed to take the previously discarded path. Here, then, we come across Leonardo who, faced with unfinished business, reminds us of the importance of trying rather than succeeding, but also Manzoni in the midst of a crisis during the drafting (or rather, drafts) of The Betrothed.
Great characters are intermingled with everyday figures such as the peasants of the Fenoglian Langa, letter carriers and talking chickens that suggest how optimism can be a life choice for everyone, for richer or poorer. A choice, it would be said, of happiness.
A fortitude, that of the optimist, that allows one to make a decision and measure time in a healthy way. Hence the resolving title of a quintessential dilemma, which, however, does not neglect the possibility of reconsideration (…perhaps). Just as an optimist or optimistic person would do.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)