After the international success of The Eight Mountains (Navona, 2018), Paolo Cognetti (Milan, 1978) explains that he felt a bit like Bruce Springsteen when he returned from the tour of The river (1980). "He was 33 years old and had just become a rock star. Then he locked himself in the house, started watching horror movies and reading stories about violence and composed Nebraska (1982)", explains Cognetti. Reflecting on the American singer, the writer also isolated himself to get away from the worldwide fame achieved with the novel and began to write. In three months he had ready At the bottom of the valley (La Campana / Random House Literature), recently published with a translation by Helena Aguilà and which Cognetti considers his Nebraska"The spirit of the album took hold of me, and the story came very easily. I think the reader will notice this when they read it," says the Italian author.