"Nick shares the charm,
    history, and mystery of 
    the hill towns of Italy with  
    great clarity. It's as if you 
    are walking beside him along
    the cobblestone streets and
    byways." --- ActionTales.com

August in the Mind  Hard Copy - $12.97 (157 pages) Ship to:   U.S.    Canada     International (Includes FREE copy of .PDF version. The download link will appear on your "thank you" page.) Electronic Version - $1.97 .PDF - Acrobat Reader (561KB)      (No s&h applies) Additional ebook reading formats available at: Smashwords.com Also available on Amazon Kindle: August in the Mind

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After a time, Tony moved away from his favorite spot where he leaned on the side rail and worked his way forward, as far as passengers were allowed to venture on the main deck. Then he climbed over a chain and walked unnoticed in the dark past the heavy deck equipment, the cranes and funnels, on beyond the crew's quarters and all the way to the extreme bow of the ship. There he was able to lean forward over the rail and look below and under him. The ship cut a smooth gash in the black waters. There was no rolling or tossing but a continuous forward slicing into the darkness. The wind was surprisingly strong up there, and he did consider what would happen if he fell into the water from this precarious stand. Tony gripped his hands a little tighter on both sides of the rounded prow and stared ahead into the night. He was aware of his body suspended and rushing through the wind into the dark unknown. Holding that position and that mood, standing alone in the world, he felt close to peace. His mind relaxed, and suddenly there was Gagetta. Rushing through the dark sea of his mind brought him face to face with the very figure he most wanted to avoid. Gagetta stood there like an apparition appearing unsummoned out of the night. The figure was not merely suspended in front of the moving ship but filled the void everywhere Tony turned his head. more excerpts

While the cities of Italy are as modern as those in any other country, the hillsides and byways seem to cherish much of the old ways. Here's one upon which Nick strolled in getting closer to his own roots, and gathering insights which would be key elements in his tale. -- Bob

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Excerpts | Comments And Reviews | Author Info

Tony Antonelli develops a strong and immediate antagonism to a newcomer who arrives at his work place. Without provocation he attacks the man but is held back by fellow workers. Seeking to understand the cause of his actions, he follows a baffling memory, first physically and then internally, chasing the shadows of memory until he reaches a medieval town in central Italy. On the steps of an ancient Duomo, he survives a traumatic experience which helps him comprehend his actions. When he returns home, a surprise occurrence is waiting. An original and creative exploration of one of the many things we know so little about.

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Tony, an architect-engineer, is suddenly and inexplicably overwhelmed with antipathy for a total stranger. He attacks the man. Without the intervention of Tony's co-workers, the man would have died.

Tony is badly shaken by his actions. He lacks even a hint of an idea that might explain it. He knows nothing of himself that could possibly account for the sudden surging rage, the overpowering urge to destroy.

He is certain of only one thing. He must discover what triggered his actions else face a grim, unpredictable future. No one can help. The answer lies within himself. And he must find it. Alone.

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While riding a train from Rome to Florence, I was gazing up at one of those Medieval hill towns when the strangest feeling disturbed my equanimity. It was as though an ancient mystery lingered through the centuries until it surfaced in my mind. In August in the Mind, which I wrote after this experience, architect/engineer Tony Antonelli develops a strong antagonism to a stranger who appears at his work place, and before that had appeared in unsettled dreams... Without apparent provocation, he attacks the man. Seeking to find the cause for his behavior, Tony, first internally and then physically, chases the shadow of memory until he arrives at a walled-in hill town in central Italy. There in Montepulciano, on the steps of an a Medieval Duomo, he survives a traumatic experience which helps him comprehend his actions. Nick Taddeo Pasadena, California

It was while riding north on a train through Italy that Nick became fascinated with the castles perched on mountain tops such as the one shown here. It was that trip and the feelings that emerged from such images, that triggered his book, August of the Mind. -- Bob

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