And This Is Nothing — A Review

But who chose the lens through which we see the world? Who decided what is normal and what is not? If you've never asked yourself that question, this is the book for you; if you have, it's still the right novel to read. It entertains, moves, and enriches the story of Giulio, who lives in a small Tuscan village in the 1960s. Watching his family and his community, he notices that these so-called normal people are always discontent, angry, complaining; something is always wrong. His conclusion—he is sixteen but seems seven, he is a quadriplegic ("I have two arms and two legs but nothing works"), and he cannot speak—is simple: all things considered, "I can say I'm the only one in my family without troubles." Mainly because Giulio seems to be the only one who truly wants to "breathe it all in," with full lungs—life itself. The novel draws inspiration from a true story (in 1966, the author's father—a student of Adriano Milani, a doctor and older brother of the famous Don Lorenzo—opened a center in Lucca for children with cerebral palsy).