cover image The Tenor's Son: My Days with Pavarotti

The Tenor's Son: My Days with Pavarotti

Candido Bonvicini. St. Martin's Press, $22.95 (202pp) ISBN 978-0-312-09920-6

This smarmy memoir by a fellow Italian should prove embarrassing to Pavarotti, especially during this 25th anniversary year of his Metropolitan Opera debut, which is sure to be celebrated in press features. After interviewing residents of the city, Bonvicini announces that Modena ``totally adores Pavarotti.'' The tenor's mother says that she is ``overcome with emotion'' that God chose her to birth this son; the family chauffeur considers himself his boss's ``best buddy;'' a Modenese critic, pondering the essence of Pavarotti, exclaims, ``If we multiply his weight by a thousand, we might get the right answer.'' Bonvicini studies Pavarotti's photo album and concludes that he is ``strong and aggressive,'' but also ``a serene, discreet, genuinely intimate man.'' We also hear from a Modenese astrologer and from the tenor's wife, Adua, who not too subtly shows her disdain for Bonvicini's silliness. Photos. (Nov.)