UNA NUOVA VITA | 1963 | BERNARD MALAMUD

A New Life by Bernard Malamud (Italian title Una nuova vita), first published in Italian in 1963, is a novel that examines the struggle of identity, ambition, and redemption. The protagonist, Seymour Levin, leaves a university post and relocates to a small, conservative campus in the American West aiming for a fresh start—hoping to escape his past, recover his passions, and stop drinking. But the move reveals societal constraints, professional rivalries, and personal isolation. Malamud’s style is spare yet emotionally powerful, using realistic characterization to probe moral choices, loneliness, and the tension between aspiration and limitation.