L’autore che non era lui. La vita di Tommaso Pincio implicata dai suoi testi

In this paper I will dwell upon Tommaso Pincio’s construction of his autobiographical space through his works. First, I will analyse his 2012 Autoritratto con le spalle rivolte all’arte e alla fantascienza (incompiuto) assuming how in general his autobiographical references are more elusive than direct. In the second and third sections I will tackle the recurrent plot of the talentless Marco Colapietro – the author’s real name – who after failing as a painter embraces the path of literary writing as Tommaso Pincio. This plot is at the core of hybrid works characterised by a multifaceted mixture of autobiography and essay, such as Hotel a zero stelle (2011), Pulp Roma (2012) and Scrissi d’arte (2015). At the same time, it is also the underlying frame of Cinacittà (2008) and Il dono di saper vivere (2018). Then, I will examine the debut work M. (1997), where Tommaso Pincio’s alternative birth as a character takes place. Since here Tommaso Pincio is depicted as a stencil with a specific and unchangeable «program of motivational determination», my view is that the protagonists of Tommaso Pincio’s early works are a sort of ‘programmed prefiguration’ of the following recurrent plot of the failed artist. In the last section I will eventually suggest that Il dono di saper vivere may open a new path in Tommaso Pincio’s literary production, going beyond his ‘programmed plot’.