The Street Kids

About this book

The provocative novel about hard-living teenagers in poverty-stricken postwar Rome by the renowned Italian filmmaker (The New York Times). Set during the postWorld War II years in the Rome of the borgateoutlying neighborhoods beset by poverty and deprivationThe Street Kids tells the story of a group of adolescents belonging to the urban underclass. Living hand-to-mouth Riccetto and his friends eke out an existence doing odd jobs committing petty crimes and prostituting themselves. Rooted in the neorealist movement of the 1950s The Street Kids is a tender heart-rending tribute to an entire social class in danger of being forgotten. Heavily censored and criticized lambasted by much of the general public upon its publication The Street Kids nevertheless had a force and vitality that eventually led to its being considered a masterpiece. This new translation comes from Ann Goldstein the acclaimed translator of Elena Ferrantes Neapolitan novels.