A Forest Full Of Monkeys

The second edition of my first novel still has the same title as of the first edition, i.e. A FOREST FULL OF MONKEYS, and the trim size is 6x9, but I did some major editing of the text, and the German painter, Thomas Ziebarth gave me his permission to use one of his paintings for the cover of the book. A Forest Full Of Monkeys is the story of how my life unfolded after I left Naples in 1972. It is a never ending series of adventures that will keep you reading non stop. Picture yourself trekking through deep jungle in Kerala, or hitching a ride in a beaten up truck in Afghanistan, when hardly anybody knew where Afghanistan was. Imagine yourself on a dangerous mission in the mountains of the Hindukush. Visit an exotic, secluded brothel in a luscious park in the heart of Bangkok. Stumble and fall a few times, but always bounce back and keep going. All this and much, much more. It's the story of my life. Don't miss it.

About the Author :
It happened in the month of October in 1972 on a very average day. Until then I'd been a regular restless and dissatisfied young Neapolitan. That day, in the morning, my whole life changed I was trying to follow a lecture at the University of Naples. The antique hall was packed. I was standing sweaty and confused way back behind the crowd of students. I could not understand a word of what the lecturer was saying. I felt anxious and frustrated. I wanted to leave that hall and breathe some fresh air, but I did not have the courage to do so. Then, all of a sudden, I asked myself a question I'd never asked myself before. Did I have to do what I was doing? Did I have to do what I was being told I had to do? The answer that came forth from who knows where was so loud and clear it blew me away. I didn't have to! I was free to choose the way I wanted to live. What I wanted to do, what I really wanted to do, was travel to faraway place; explore the world; live the life of a true adventurer. As a consequence, a few weeks later I left Naples, and a long journey began. It wasn't easy. My parents could not understand why I was giving up what they'd been fighting for all their life; I had no precise answers to give them, and they never understood. While on the road, when I needed to earn some money, I worked doing whatever job was available wherever I happened to be. In London I was a waiter in a fancy hotel for a few months, and for a few more months an offset printer operator in a plastic containers factory. I was an apprentice cook in a famous Swiss restaurant, a language teacher in Japan, a candle maker in Goa, and occasionally I smuggled small amounts of ganja or cannabis resin. I was married; divorced, and had a number of meaningful relationships, some of which eventually went sour. At present I reside in a small village in South India, and aside from writing and hoping that some day it will pay off, what I do very seriously nowadays is my best to stay out of troubles.