The cult novel *Fiamme e Rock ‘n’ Roll* (Flames and Rock ‘n’ Roll) by Bruno Segalini has returned to bookstores. Published by Shake Edizioni (192 pp, €20.00), the book chronicles the epic 1989 resistance to the eviction of the Leoncavallo social centre. This new edition features an introduction by writer and activist Sandrone Dazieri and includes a 1989 interview with Primo Moroni, the legendary Milanese bookseller and historian of political movements. Its re-release coincides with the recent initiation of the final eviction of the historic Milanese centre, bringing back to light the story, the fears, and the struggles that gave birth to Leoncavallo and its most symbolic committee: the Antifascist Mothers. This reappearance also comes as investigations have recently been reopened into the March 18, 1978, murders of Fausto Tinelli and Lorenzo “Iaio” Iannucci, two young antifascist militants whose memory powerfully permeates the novel.
In his introduction, Sandrone Dazieri, whose own history is intertwined with that of Leoncavallo, states: “Rereading what happened in the pages of this book has, as they say, awakened ghosts in me that I believed were dormant and tearful memories. If you were there too, I am certain you will suffer the same effect; otherwise, you will get a taste of what was an extraordinary and beautiful period of which we felt ourselves to be the protagonists and heroes. And perhaps we really were, for a brief instant.”
In his debut novel, Segalini—the former singer and guitarist of the historic underground band Pila Weston, which in the Eighties and Nineties, alongside other groups, ushered in a season of cultural revolution linked to the circuit of indie rock bands and social centres—recounts with irony and passion one of the most epic chapters in Leoncavallo’s history. For over fifty years, the centre was the heart of Milan’s self-managed social scene.
A story that, half a century later, is now more relevant than ever.
The novel catapults the reader into a 24-hour period spanning August 15-16, 1989. Bruno and his ramshackle rock band find themselves somewhat by chance, and somewhat by choice, involved in one of the most legendary events of the Eighties: the opposition to the eviction of the Leoncavallo social centre. The affair turns out to be “big and hot,” unfolding amidst Molotov cocktails, tear gas, and escapes over rooftops to evade the police. Bruno is an odd character, more of a musician and dreamer than an orthodox militant. He wants to defend his ideals and that place, but also his band’s rehearsal room, indispensable for his survival in the opulent and decadent “Milano da Bere” (Milano to Drink)—a city he does not accept and which does not accept him.
Told in a direct, irresistible, highly comical, and at times dramatic style, *Fiamme e Rock ‘n’ Roll. Romanzo veridico sullo sgombero del Leoncavallo, 1989* (A Truthful Novel on the 1989 Leoncavallo Eviction) immerses readers in an era when hundreds of rock bands trod the broken stages and dirty floors of underground venues and alternative spaces, gloomy parks and disreputable bars. It was a generation that, for the first time, had the courage to say: “No!”