{"product_id":"gift-24","title":"Gift","description":"Epic poem, biography, literary criticism, historical romance, in \u003ci\u003eA Gift,\u003c\/i\u003e David Slavitt presents the fascinating life of Mozart's librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, one of history's great unknowns, a man blessed and cursed by his conviction that within him lay the capacity for literary greatness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEducated in the church, the young da Ponte carouses in Venice, flees Italy, and finds himself in Austria, trying to establish a career in the theater. Under the tepid patronage of Joseph II of Austria, he turns out libretti for Salieri and learns the \"\"whorey tricks\"\" of writing on demand: \"\"Adaptation, translation, theft.\"\" In lines that ring harrowingly true, Slavitt reflects the young man's self-doubts:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe mad hope\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003egrows like a mold on bread\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat it's not so bad,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eis better than you think, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebut what that means\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eis only that your judgment is going too,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eyou can't tell good from bad, are a fraud, impostor\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen, on the brink of despair, he encounters Mozart, boorish, preferring crude farce to literary grace. Still, the partnership thrives with The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte. But good luck is not to be trusted, and \"\"misfortune is not reliable either.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDespite his brilliant gift, success eludes da Ponte. Ever gullible, ever generous, he is destined to accumulate others' debts, to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, to be forgotten. Da Ponte lives out his life in the fledgling United States, plagued by sickness, debt, and the implacably looming specter of failure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSlavitt has created a lovely, heartening book, one that reminds us that untested faith is no faith at all. Alight with muted passion, \u003ci\u003eA Gift\u003c\/i\u003e chronicles a man's refusal to despair despite the growing awareness that nothing awaits but poverty and ignominy, \"\"that this ill-fitting garment is what the wardrobe holds.\"\" Through Slavitt's lively imagination, we feel reverence rather than pity for the dogged nobility of da Ponte's struggle. Ultimately, Lorenzo da Ponte is a hero, his life a victory.","brand":"Louisiana State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55807340544344,"sku":"9780807120484","price":19.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/gift-24","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}