“Crepet looks for the clichés about passion and turns them around.” Corriere della Sera
These stories teach us that passion is based on stubbornness, tenacity and an irrepressible urge for freedom.
One of the most insidious and underestimated perils of our age is the progressive deterioration – if not extinction – of passion, the challenge launched to the world and to ourselves to continue to improve, to hope, to dream. But since without passion there is neither true life nor any vision of the future, Paolo Crepet refuses to surrender to such a loss. He has composed a collection of stories and reflections drawn from his personal and professional experience, which revolve around this sacred word, in all its meanings and declinations. Because explaining to young people what passion means, the inner fire necessary to keep their desires alive and try to satisfy them, is today a fundamental task if one wishes “to support them in discovering and developing oneself, nourishing the joy and enthusiasm they entail, they mustn’t be anesthetized or dampened.” And since examples are worth more than words, the book is embellished by the testimonies of three paradigms of passion: Paolo Fresu, an extraordinary jazz musician acclaimed all over the world; Alessandro Michele, who revolutionized the international fashion scene, and Renzo Piano, one of the most celebrated architects of all time. Three men, very different in age, education and biography, but united by an unmistakable characteristic: the indomitable enthusiasm that animates their work and the absolute loyalty to the dreams of their youth, which nurtured their work and brought it to fruition. Their stories – marvelous ferries that transport us and preserve the hope of an amazing life – teach us that passion is based on stubbornness, tenacity and an irrepressible urge for freedom. It is not an easy journey, nor is it for everyone, but the destination is so special that everyone has the duty to demonstrate whether they have the courage to face it.
Paolo Crepet
Paolo Crepet was born in Torino. He is a psychiatrist and a sociologist, and has been the scientific director of the “Scuola per genitori” since 2004. He is the author of Le dimensioni del vuoto. I giovani e il suicidio (1993), Cuori violenti. Viaggio nella criminalità giovanile (1995), Solitudini. Memorie d’assenza (1997), I giorni dell’ira. Storie di matricidi (with Giancarlo De Cataldo, 1998), Naufragi. Storie di confine (1999; 2002), Non siamo capaci di ascoltarli (2001), La ragione dei sentimenti (2002; 2004), Voi, noi (2003), Dannati e leggeri (2004; 2006), I figli non crescono più (2005), Sull’amore (2006; 2010), Dove abitano le emozioni (with Mario Botta e Giuseppe Zois, 2007), A una donna tradita (2008), Sfamiglia (2009; 2011), Un’anima divisa (2010), L’autorità perduta (2011; 2013), Elogio dell’amicizia (2012), Impara a essere felice (2013), Il caso della donna che smise di mangiare (2015), Baciami senza rete (2016), Il coraggio. Vivere, amare, educare (2017), Passione (2018), Perché finisce un amore (with Alessandra Arachi, 2019), Libertà (2019), Vulnerabili (2020), Oltre la tempesta (2021). In 2017 he has won the Pio Alferano prize.
- Vulnerabili (Vulnerable)
- Libertà (Freedom)
- Passione (Passion)
- Il coraggio (Courage)
- Baciami senza rete (Kiss Me Without the Net)
“Crepet looks for the clichés about passion and turns them around.” Corriere della Sera