Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto

A fable for children and adults: a story of life, death, and terrorism—in the grand tradition of Exupéry’s The Little Prince
When we first meet Baron Lamberto, he is very rich and very ill. He owns twenty-six banks and has been diagnosed with twenty-six deadly ailments: only his butler Anselmo remembers them all. On the advice of an Egyptian sage, Lamberto hires an army of servants to repeat his name over and over and over. It’s a recipe, he’s told, for eternal life.... Surprisingly, it works. But Lamberto’s newfound youth is put at risk when a terrorist group lays siege to his private island in the mountains near Lake Orta. !e Baron’s army of bank directors are held hostage, and an international media spectacle is born. Lamberto becomes the first casualty. Based on the true-life terrorism of the Colombian M19. movement and the Red Brigades’ kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto is an adroit, witty, and poignant reflection on what happens when terrorism strikes. But it’s also a fantastic tale: Our beloved Lamberto eventually springs back to life to negotiate with the terrorists against impossible odds. There are things, writes Rodari, “that only happen once.” In fact, “there are things that only happen in fairytales.”