David Gross is working as a corporate lawyer in New York when a friend calls to invite him to move to Bologna to help turn around a legendary Italian motorcycle company, known for its dominance on the track and its inability to turn a profit. Off he heads to the fabled home of marbled meats, radical leftist politics, and bespoke shoes, diving into his new life as the “corporate image consultant” to gearheads while learning to navigate the giddy mores of Bolognese society. There he stokes the business with sexy ad campaigns starring factory workers wearing Versace. Above all, he falls in love with motorcycles, seduced by speed, and realizes that becoming a better rider means tapping into dormant parts of his self that, as it turns out, were just waiting to be unleashed. And when he picks up a handsome, young—and closeted—skinhead, things really get interesting.
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“Assorted Italians, transplanted Brits, and apartment roommates make for lively characters…Gardner’s pronunciations are spot-on, giving listeners the feeling they’re gaining an Italian lesson as well as a slice of culture. Gardner’s expressive intonation and passionate voices make the journey amusing.” — AudioFile
“Assorted Italians, transplanted Brits, and apartment roommates make for lively characters…Gardner’s pronunciations are spot-on, giving listeners the feeling they’re gaining an Italian lesson as well as a slice of culture. Gardner’s expressive intonation and passionate voices make the journey amusing.”
“[Gross’] sharp, wry memoir meshes well with a close-up picture of a small corner in the global economy.”
“[Gross’] book is filled with insight on the city and corporate color, especially the chapters devoted to his coworkers, who include the World War II–obsessed company historian and the volatile, eccentric chief of design…In examining Italian corporate and social culture, Gross…has done a solid job.”
“Talk about culture shock: Gross had no idea…that he would have to learn a whole new set of social rules and a whole new way of living…The book is also something of a comedy of manners, as Gross, the typical American, fumbles his way through the considerably more laid-back Italian society. Lots of fun.”
" The parts relating to motorcycles were far more interesting than the parts that dealt with life and love. I only wish that he had somehow not kept the three so distinctly separate within his writing. "
" APL Recycled Reads find. Thought it was going to be about business turnarounds and motorcycles in Italy but turned into a gay guys memoir , more gay than motorcycles. "
David Gross attended Brown University and Harvard Law School. He has written on finance for the New York Times, Time, and Newsday, among other publications. He lives in Bologna, Italy. Fast Company is his first book.
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.
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