SEPARATE ROOMS - by Pier Vittorio Tondelli

Name: SEPARATE ROOMS - by Pier Vittorio Tondelli
Start: 2026-03-17T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-03-17T21:00:00-05:00
Location: Center on Halsted

Schedule

Tue Mar 17 2026 at 07:00 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Center on Halsted | Chicago, IL

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! Join us to Discuss our Monthly Book in March ...
---- Most Anticipated of '25 - LitHub, LGBTQ Reads, Observer ----
---- A classic masterpiece in Italian Llit ----
---- Soon to be a major film adaptation ----
A 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘 OF ITALIAN LIT, AN ITALIAN WRITER MOURNING THE 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗦 OF HIS BOYFRIEND OF 3 YRS. OF 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 YET KEEPING THEIR 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘 TO KEEP THAT ALIVE. A 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 PORTRAIT OF 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘, 𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗙 & THE DAILY REALITIES OF BEING A GAY MAN IN 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟬𝗦 𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘.
- - André Aciman, 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘔𝘦 𝘉𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦 (which we've read) - -
"𝙀𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 & 𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙙 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 & 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭, 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.”

SUMMARY: Thomas, a young German musician, is 𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴. His older boyfriend, a renowned Italian writer named Leo, finds it 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 the slow & inevitable demise of his lover. So, he condemns himself to 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 instead, moving cities every few weeks in the hope of finding a semblance of peace.
He travels through 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 where past & present overlap, years merge & faces emerge, & 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 of the life he & Thomas shared are on every corner. From their meeting & nights spent in 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀 to 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻, 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻, 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 & the drug-induced flight through the 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 that spelled the end, Leo’s 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 become clearer with every road he takes - much as he wishes he could simply forget.
While alive & wanting to 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 of their relationship, Leo had forced Thomas to live separately: in 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀, separate towns, with separate lives. But now, face to face with 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲, Leo must finally reckon with the impossible striving of memory to recreate life & ultimately cross an ocean to 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗻.
André Aciman’s 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙈𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙉𝙖𝙢𝙚 meets Ocean Vuong’s 𝙊𝙣 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙒𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙮 𝙂𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙨 (both of which we've read). This is a 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 & 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 on almost-ideal love, told in three musical movements, by a 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘆, 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 & 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁. Soon to be a major film adaptation by Luca Guadagnino,

- - - Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning
- - - author of 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴 (which we've read)
“𝘈 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺: 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 & 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 & 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥.”
[free, no RSVP needed, just come & we'll welcome you in!]