I discovered the novel ” Jack Frusciante and left the group” (1994) by Enrico Brizzi when I was already twenty years old. I write “now” because, in my opinion, to fully immerse yourself in the events of the two protagonists, Alex D. and Aidi, you should read it while you and adolescents, just like the two of them.
When I read the book I was already in college and had left the difficult years of high school behind me. As a clumsy young man I was, for five years I had crossed the threshold of the classroom every day already knowing that the day would be divided between nightmare questions, teachers-dictators and companies-harpies (being able to survive in a class of about twenty girls turned out to be useful in life!).
I admit that I was attracted to the novel above all for the reference of Frusciante (John, the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who in the novel becomes Jack for copyright reasons) in the title: at the time I was literally crazy for this group, which in that period he was back in the limelight after a long absence.
The university had made me discover new horizons: the desire to learn, to travel, to be economically independent, to meet new people, the curiosity to deepen my literary and cinematographic tastes and to cross over into culture without limits. In short, I had officially passed the stage of adolescence, and I was a new person. Or, better, as Alex D. would say, I was finally “out of the group”: I had abandoned the stupid conventions that make you feel part of a group but which, in reality, clip your wings and prevent you from being yourself.
And what Alex D., a 17-year-old Bolognese boy from Bologna, is also trying to do, who attends the renowned and elitist Liceo Caimani (distortion of the well-known Liceo Galvani). The omniscient narrator catapults us into the existence of Alex, who is experiencing a period of strong inner change: from a disciplined boy as he was, he is now grumpy and introverted and feels that he no longer belongs to the respectable bourgeois world of his family.
Between going out with friends, quarrels with parents (nicknamed The Chancellor and La Mutter), studies and questions, a new and unexpected factor is introduced into his daily life: love. Love at first sight by Alex D. and for Adelaide, called Aidi, a sixteen year old of Sicilian origins who attended her school.
A beautiful friendship is born between the two young people, but Alex, who is truly in love with her and involved in the relationship, would like a deeper relationship. Aidi, although in love with her, tries to restrain their love because she knows that at the end of the school year she will have to leave for the United States and she does not want to suffer.
The influence of the sweet Adelaide dampens the tough traits of Alex, who is basically a good guy, simply looking for himself. Alex’s routine, which is divided between platonic love for Aidi and raids with his friends, is abruptly interrupted when their peer, Martino, commits suicide. Martino, a wealthy boy who loves the good life and spending his parents’ money, is arrested for drug possession and, despite being immediately released thanks to his father’s influence, he decides to take his own life out of shame.
This boy, homologated to his wealthy peers, is the exact opposite of what Alex wants to be and this suicide will be a turning point for him that allows him to understand that he must create his own identity and must “leave the group” if he does not want to be sucked in and deprived of his personality.
The novel is full of musical references, first of all the title dedicated to John Frusciante, who came out of the RHCP when they were at the peak of success. There are also quotes from the Sex Pistols, Ramones, Cure, Pink Floyd, Smiths, Clash, Led Zeppelin, REM, Doors, and many other bands that a tasteful teenager of the 90s is sure to appreciate.
There are also references to literature, especially the Bildungsroman (Salinger’s Young Holden and Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince), and quotes from great writers such as Kerouac, Bach and DeCarlo.
There are also references to the cinema: Alex D. has the same name as the protagonist of Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.
Jack Frusciante left the group, as well as becoming the key to success of the then newcomer Enrico Brizzi, and also became a film directed by Enza Negro and released in 1996. unlike the book, the film did not meet with much critical enthusiasm as he did not know how to do justice to Brizzi’s narrative style and the inner evolution of a complex character like Alex D. The result is a fairly banal film, which reduces the events of Alex and Adelaide to a simple love story like many others .
However, it doesn’t matter at what age you decide to read Jack Frusciante is out of the group. If you too are now “out of the group”, you can plunge back into adolescence with nostalgia and regret those moments when the biggest problems concerned school, parents who do not understand you and an unrequited “crush”.
