Rosso Malpelo

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"Rosso Malpelo" is a short story by Giovanni Verga. The title "Rosso Malpelo" is Italian for "evil redhead", a nickname which combines Rosso (red) with Malpelo (evil hair), as Sicilians believed people with red hair were malicious and had an evil disposition. The story, written in 1878, is set in Verga's native Sicily and reflects the social and economic conditions endured by the poor working classes in Southern Italy at the time. The story is a fine example of Italian Realism or Verismo, and is written in Verga's concise, impersonal and distinctly Sicilian style, manipulating the narrative voice into something more akin to the oral tradition. His subject matter and scientific style has led to comparison to Émile Zola's more widely known book, Germinal. This short story appeared for the first time on Il fanfulla, an Italian journal, in 1878, and was later published in 1880 in a collection of other works by Verga, from his 1879–1880s "Vita dei Campi". The novella is widely known and appreciated in Italy, providing an interesting quasi-historical documentation of the condition of the South following the unification of Italy. The book was adapted into a film in 2007, with a title of Little Boy Red.