(25 june 2018) “Sempre caro mi fu quest’ermo colle” (Always dear to me was this solitary hill – literal English translation). This is the opening verse of one of the most beautiful sonnets in literature: “L’infinito” by Giacomo Leopardi. Alessandro D’Avenia has dedicated his book “L’art d’être fragile (PUF, 2018 – L’arte di essere fragile, Mondadori 2018 – The Art of being Fragile) to the renowned poet from Recanati and one of the greatest voices of Italian literature. D’Avenia’s novel, which has achieved great success in Italy, explains how, against all expectations, his encounter with Leopardi revealed to him the art of being happy. D’Avenia – novelist, Doctor in classical literature and a teacher in a high school of Milan – will soon visit the Italian Institute of Culture of Paris on Monday June 25th at 19:00. The author will be in conversation with the journalist and novelist, Christophe Ono-dit-Biot.