The events of Pietro Russell’s life are told in 26 chapters. From A-Z, each chapter is set in a different place and reveals a fragment of his story. As his memories flicker back and forth through time in his search for a resolution to the conflicts of his life, his story gradually unfolds.

Sam Volpe

A Fool's Alphabet

The fictional biography of travel photographer Pietro (Italian mother) Russell is broken down into 26 chapters, each named after a place, in alphabetical order from A to Z. This piece of literary fiction is quite interesting concept wise, and the writing as ever is top drawer. The chapters are completely out of order chronologically so learning about the cause and effects of Pietro's life is like a jigsaw and sometimes you read about the effect before the cause.   At a core level the book / story was captivating, until for me, I realise that Pietro's life is quite 'normal' and there are no real hidden surprises in it; although conversely it could be argued that that is another point of the story. A very high quality piece of literary fiction, with a great concept, however if felt to me, that the story was sacrificed to achieve these things. 7 out of 12.    2021 read

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