Maria Grazia Taddei

Île d'Elbe, 1814. Ce que Martino déteste le plus au monde c'est Napoléon. Il rêve même tous les soirs qu'il tue le Tyran Immonde. Alors, lorsque l'Empereur arrive soudain sur l'Ile, vaincu et exilé, Martino y voit un signe… et graisse déjà son vieux pistolet. Celle que Martino aime le plus au monde c'est la Baronne Emilia, mais elle ne pense qu'à partir vivre à Naples, décidée à s'éloigner de son trop jeune amant.

A bankrupt restaurateur on the brink of suicide is suddenly treated with deference and kindness by a bizarre group of strangers — who welcome him in their home, no less! Truth is they have mistaken him for the tax man they're waiting for, desperate to save their floundering ostrich-breeding business.

In a shabby residence on the coast between Livorno and Pisa, Mario, known as "Il Cormorano", a grumpy and disillusioned young man, works as a plumber to scrape together the sum necessary to realize his dream. He wants to join his uncle Piero in America to become an underground musician. His story is intertwined with that of Nevio, the cynical manager of the residence, of Gabriella, his naive and dreamy lover and of the maid Gaia who behind has a past as a drug addict, with whom Mario has a relationship of hate love. But reality is not as rosy as dreams:

From childhood to fatherhood, Piero learns things the hard way while growing up in a working-class neighborhood of Livorno.