Aquesta és una història d'amor entre una professora d'italià i la Xu, una noia japonesa, que m'ha fet patir, i molt.

That Xu is undeniably wrong for Ruben matters little; Blue Hunger is a novel about wrongness, just as it is about displacement, and the depths we sink to when assailed by inescapable grief. My favourite stories were ‘bones’ and ‘scab’ as the metaphors and words used to describe protagonist’s pain and numbness were intricate to say the least.It's a dark, emotive experience that the reader has to understand to even begin to rationalize how Ruben's depression functions.

At the heart of the story is a woman devastated by the death of her twin, seeking refuge in prescription medication, alcohol and lonely nights in front of Chinese TV. Blue Hunger (translated by Jamie Richards) focuses on an unnamed young Italian woman, introducing us to her shortly after her move to Shanghai to be an Italian teacher.

Non basta frapporre tra la vecchia sé e la nuova sé migliaia di chilometri di distanza, quanti separano Roma da Shangai, non basta cambiare lingua, dall’italiano al cinese, sostituire l’alfabeto con gli ideogrammi: si continuerà ad aver fame, fame d’amore.