Two

Jack Frusciante Has Left the Band is a novel that defined a generation. The generation of those who came of age in the 1990s and who fell in love with the story of Alex and Aidi, first in the pages of the book and later on the big screen. Enza Negroni’s 1996 film adaptation featured a soundtrack filled with pieces by some of the most iconic Italian bands and musicians of the time, including C.S.I. and Marlene Kuntz. Now, thirty years after the novel first came out, Enrico Brizzi has penned a sequel that picks up the threads of the protagonists’ lives. Alex is picking up the pieces of his life as he grapples with his friend Martino’s tragic suicide and Aidi’s departure. She is now in Pennsylvania, on a year-long cultural exchange. Brizzi takes us back in time, evoking nostalgia for those who lived through those years and piquing the interest of those who came later. The sequel revisits the days of the Tangentopoli “bribesville” inquests and the mafia massacres, InterRail journeys across Europe, and slower forms of communication, when one waited weeks or months for a reply to a letter. And, once again, music plays a pivotal role, reverberating to the characters’ emotions. Manu Chao—who makes a cameo in the book, meeting Alex in Paris—joins The Cure, Nirvana, and others in forming an accompaniment that plays in readers’ minds as they turn the pages.

Two
Enrico Brizzi
HarperCollins, 2024