The Lion of Pescara

Already a tireless amorist while scarcely more than a boy, Gabriele D'Annunzio (18631938) became a poet, novelist and playwright widely celebrated in his time; and although his reputation has declined, he remains a significant figure in modern literary historyas well as an extraordinarily colorful character, as this fictionalized biography documents. No stripling when the Great War began, D'Annunzio nevertheless became the outstanding pilot in the Italian air force and the nation's most conspicuous war hero. A fervent Fascist, he might have been part of the Mussolini coupthe March on Romeand settled instead for his own march on Fiume. A steady procession of marquesas and contessas (and, later, boys) was crowned by his most famous affair, with Eleanora Duse. The hectic tale of D'Annunzio's exploits is related by his servant-secretary-procurer, Tomaso Antongini. MacBeth (A Kind of Treason, Anna's Book brings to his narrative rich resources of sonorous prose, a style that is appropriately opulent to the man who inspired it. (March 18)