When Stefano Benni said: "Bologna has finally come back to life"

It was October 16, 2020: Stefano Benni gave a long interview and story to Il Carlino. He spoke with Giorgio Comaschi about Bologna, where he had recently returned to live, about wolves, about animals both real and imaginary. About friendships and how he had found the city changed, for better or for worse. Today, Stefano Benni is no longer with us; he passed away at the age of 78 in his own city, and Bologna finds itself bereft of an extraordinary architect of fantastical worlds that have, and will forever have, incredible similarities to the real world.

The Wolf arrives in mid-afternoon, staggering in from outside Santo Stefano. The others come one by one. Piazza Santo Stefano, 'Geriatrics Ward'. The widowers of Vito, of Moretto, of the Osteria della Chiesa, are here. They have white hair. Giorgio Bonaga, who has less hair, manages. It's the bar of 2020. Where they no longer talk about women or affairs but where everyone shows off their tests . Or they talk about food . Yesterday, one had a high PSA. There's Renato Villalta , there's Adriano , there's Francesco , there's Bedo , there's Giovanni Pintori , there's Sampaio , sometimes Prodi stops by, or Clò , or Magnisi , there's Celso Valli , or the writer Cavazzoni .

The Wolf, who is Stefano Benni, had the idea of ​​being interviewed about Bologna by Giorgino, who is me. We retreat to a private room while Bonaga takes photos of us with his cell phone.

Why did you decide to do an interview on Il Carlino , Stefano, are you sure?

"Because I'm back in Bologna. I want to talk about Bologna, and Il Carlino is Bologna's newspaper. I don't see why you're so shocked."

But you, you of all people, talking to the Pug has a certain effect…

"It will be a problem for the Pug , not for me."

And he chuckles with his big rodent teeth, being at times a little more mouse-like than wolf-like.

Listen, does the wolf lose its fur?

"First of all, Carlino readers may not know why they call me Wolf. In short, because I was born in Monzuno, and when I was little, wolves were outside my front door."

I understand you also spoke to him…

"I spoke to them, they responded, we had some great conversations and I still have a passion for this animal… with which we once made pacts in the countryside."

Stefano Benni died at the age of 78 in Bologna: he had retired some time ago due to illness

We've already figured out the price tag. Fine. Let's rave. You're a great inventor of fantastic, imaginary animals. Are there any still around?

"Meanwhile, Bologna is famous for these terrible little dogs that the women treat like children and decant. I find it terrible. They treat their children badly and the little dogs well. Anyway, there are so many strange animals in Bologna. Good or bad. There are wild boars, there are piglets..."

Merola (the then mayor of Bologna, ed. ) for example, what kind of animal is he?

"Merola is a… a sloth, a nice sloth."

Here's Stefano, where are we at with Bologna?

"I find it much more lively. Tourists don't bother me. I like having young people around me. Even if I end up in geriatrics here, like you."

You can act like a donkey…

"Let's go back to Bologna. Let's just say the authorities' climate is always a bit heavy. I'm a bit disappointed. I offered to premiere my new show and they didn't pay attention to me. So I'm going to premiere it in Rome. Here we go."

Do you have something against the authorities?

"They're locked in their own careers. You have to be among people. I was a little hopeful about Cofferati, but he was also a huge disappointment. But let's talk about you, too..."

Not me, I'm the one interviewing you.

"No, no, you're a small character in Bologna... small not in the sense that you don't matter, but maybe you don't even care about being one. But I see that all my stepson's friends, who are young, have taken your legendary "handjob jizz" and made it their slogan..."

Stefano Benni on the day of the presentation of his book "Pane e Tempesta" at the Coop Ambasciatori bookstore (photo Serra)

Stefano, I think my career, like yours, is about going to bed happy at night…

"With who?".

Hahaha, so you're really acting like an idiot... But it seems to me that you've softened a bit...

"I've gotten older. I wrote for Il Manifesto , but Il Manifesto is finished, it no longer exists. There's no point in talking about left-wing right-wing politics. In Bologna, for example, I met people like Giorgio Bonaga, who takes everyone for a ride in a way that I find delightful. Like his brother. It's better that Giorgio has left-wing ideas, but it's not done. In Bologna, the foundation for a healthy left exists, but the one that exists now isn't the left I like."

But you don't live the night.

"No, I live it, because I don't sleep and I walk sleeplessly through the streets of Bologna. Well, one thing... there aren't many things open at night in Bologna, which is a shame. I wish more bars were open, for example."

Don't you think men are much more tired and must all "feel" about their wives? And that women are exaggerating, being destroyed as early as 10 in the morning?

"The fact is that Bologna is a male-dominated city. See, there's never been a female mayor? Bologna is a male-dominated city, and often chauvinistic. In fact, every time a woman has tried to run for mayor, she's been rejected. Instead, I see many women leading the way in entrepreneurship."

So why did you come back then?

"One reason is because Rome has gotten so much worse. My friends in Rome tell me to come back, and I reply: give me a reason to come back. I don't like cocaine, nor do I like crashes. I smoked marijuana when I was young, and there's so-called gnocca in Rome and here too. But this is perhaps not a topic for Carlino readers..."

Hahaha, come on... Listen, where did you get this latest book Giura from?

" Gura is a miracle. Since The Bar Under the Sea , which for me was my most beautiful book, I thought I would never find this drive again. Now I say that perhaps this is my best. I wrote it during a complicated, painful period. Maybe that's why."

But Luisona, the legendary pasta from Bar Sport , is probably getting on your nerves by now…

"Yes, it pisses me off a bit, but it's true that many people know me for Luisona, and so I'm grateful for Luisona. I wish people knew me for Giura . And then you see, in bars these days you don't find Luisona anymore. There are some fancy pastries, to be had with a Spritz. Luisona is now confined to a few mountain bars. I saw the last Luisona in Pievepelago."

And our Bolognetto?

"Ouch. I knew you'd get it. I was hoping that that dog Mihajlovic would manage to avoid making a team of intermittent posh people. Bologna is too posh and intermittent. Plus, I'm a fan and I can't wait for you to take me to see a game in the press box. But what am I supposed to do if they're wearing tutus? And he could have picked a good center forward, though. I would have said Caputo last year, for example. Now, the Dynamo Kiev player with the suppository name, take Saputo, and go with your hands in the wallet, as they say here. Now even Skovolino, who was my favorite, is broken."

But are you a patient or a visiting relative here in geriatrics?

"No, I'm the head of psychiatry. The director is Giorgio Bonaga."

Stefano, I'll ask you the crucial question: are we in a lochescion or a place here?

"You're not going to send me to do one of your dirty tricks, are you? Leave the mess alone, come on, let's go, the guys from the department are waiting for us."