‘Sad, funny, wise and unblinkingly honest, this is truly wonderful.’
– Daily Mail
‘Uh-oh, here comes another one of those colourful curmudgeons who drop pearls of senior wisdom on their way to a new lease on life. Cesare certainly fits the stereotype, but he’s funny, interesting and grumpy enough to stay on the winning side of the formula.’
– New York Times Book Review
‘Immensely charming... Uplifting and very much on the side of life.’
– Mail on Sunday
‘Marone’s characters, irreverent and absurd, embark on adventures they had ceased to allow themselves to imagine in this darkly comedic take on ageing.’
– World Literature Today
‘An impressive literary feat…a charming tale of opportunities taken and missed.’
– Reading Magazine
‘Lorenzo Marone is the new voice that literature needs.’
– Corriere della Sera
‘Unforgettable...comical and cynical while remaining tender and dramatic.’
– Corriere della Sera
‘The Temptation to be Happy is that very rare thing - a book that can make you both laugh and cry... Marone's undoubted skill [is] demonstrated in some beautiful lyrical passages.'
– TripFiction
‘Poignant...[with] moments of touching eccentricity.’
– bookoxygen
‘A wonderful novel about ageing – ironic and light-footed.’
– Italien Magazin
‘Packed with dark humour, the writer's embodiment of a near-octogenarian is an impressive feat.’
– Northern Echo
‘A charming tale.’
– Daily Telegraph
‘A toast to real happiness!’
– La Stampa
‘A book that touches the heart...wonderfully honest, ingenious, quick and tragic.’
– Siegener Zeitung
‘This novel owes its success largely to Lorenzo Marone’s wonderful character Cesare Annunziata, and to the funny and paradoxical fact that this is an excellent coming-of-age novel whose protagonist is over seventy years old.’
– Il Mattino
‘Comic, ironic, sarcastic descriptions that will make you smile but will also make you take a deep look at life in old age.’
– Wochenspiegel