Riccardo Bertoncelli, "Abitavo a Penny Lane"

On Tuesday 30 February, as part of our series “The Library meets” - season 2/2026, 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶 presented the book 𝘈𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘷𝘰 𝘢 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘦. 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘥𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪 𝘥𝘪 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘫𝘢𝘻𝘻 𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 (Feltrinelli), in dialogue with 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗼 𝗚𝗶𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶. THE AUTHOR 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶 was born in Novara in 1952 and discovered his unstoppable passion for rock at fifteen. At seventeen, he founded his first fanzine, and in 1973 he published his first book on the music that was infecting the younger generations. In the 1970s, his work as an author of volumes on the pop genre was combined with that of a reviewer and essayist for specialized magazines such as Muzak and Gong. In 1980, he was the editor of Musica 80 and, with Franco Bolelli, edited the Almanacco Musica for Il Formichiere. From 1985 to 1995, he was editorial director of Arcana and then curated the music section at Giunti until 2025. He has radio experience with RAI and RSI and collaborations with Linus, Musica and "XL" of la Repubblica, Blow Up, Audio, and Musica Jazz. THE BOOK 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶, 𝘼𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙫𝙤 𝙖 𝙋𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙚. 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠, 𝙟𝙖𝙯𝙯 𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙨 There was an Italy that discovered rock as a revelation, that learned English from song lyrics and that dreamed of living in a world made of music, words, and freedom. It's the Italy of a boy growing up in the provinces in the 1960s, listening to the Beatles on the radio, falling in love with Dylan, discovering Zappa, writing his first songs, and understanding that music can be a compass for navigating the world. From afternoons spent in record stores to nights spent on free radio, from trips to London and Paris to jazz and rock festivals that changed the way we listen, Riccardo Bertoncelli tells a story of growing up, of friendships, of mistakes, of absolute enthusiasm. It's the portrait of an unrepeatable era, when the release of an album was eagerly awaited, songs were listened to until the record player's needle wore out, and words still had weight. With irony and tenderness, Bertoncelli reconstructs that world in a memoir that is both confession and collective narrative: 𝘈𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘷𝘰 𝘢 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘦 is a love letter to rock and youth, written by someone who lived that season with contagious passion. A book for those who were there and for those who wish they had been. And for those who still today search in records – or books – for something resembling a promise of freedom. Music as passion, identity, revolution: the memoir of a life lived to the rhythm of rock. An ironic and affectionate journey into the soundtrack of a generation.