“Blue Hunger is irresistible, evocative, dripping with desire, and brilliantly written-Viola Di Grado is a genius.” ―Jami Attenberg

“Blue Hunger is a most vibrant novel about lust: beautifully written and full of sensuous images, Viola Di Grado's book is a powerful literary journey into food and sex and the city. In depicting the constant foreignness of falling in love, Di Grado reveals herself as a true master of style.” ―Claudia Durastanti, author of STRANGERS I KNOW and CLEOPATRA GOES TO PRISON

“Viola Di Grado is, most importantly, a powerful and original writer; the fact that she also writes, movingly and with complexity, about members of the LGBT population, renders her work all the more singular.” ―Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE HOURS

“Blue Hunger is a devastating study of the ways in which grief renders everything, even the self, foreign. A gorgeous grotesquerie of lust and despair backdropped by the writhing rhythms of Shanghai.” ―Rachel Yoder, author of NIGHTBITCH

“Sticky, neon, and electric, Blue Hunger drips with desire, danger, and hunger in myriad forms.” ―Jessica Andrews, author of SALTWATER

“Blue Hunger's is a disorientating world made strange by grief-a world where words have lost their meaning, and identity fragments. In luminous and startling prose, Viola Di Grado lays bare the risk inherent in human relationships, the capacity we have to inflict and enjoy pain as well as pleasure, and the disassembling power of grief. Bold and addictive, this is a carnal, sensual, drug-and-sex-infused trip of a novel.” ―Imogen Crimp, author of A VERY NICE GIRL

“A sensuous and biting account . . . It's worth indulging in this visceral story.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Haunting . . . An erotic and disturbing depiction of the effects of grief.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Readers will be fascinated by the novel's scenery, psychological acuity . . . Queerness, grief, isolation, dependence, and love merge in this novel of geographically-based healing and descent.” ―Booklist

"Italian author Viola Di Grado simulates the fever dreamlike state of an all-consuming love." - RUSSH

"It’s lush, dreamlike, and once started, you won’t be able to stop thinking about it." - Terri Schlichenmeyer, Los Angeles Blade

“Di Grado's black comedy, pungent metaphors and controlled ambiguity announce the arrival of a considerable talent.” ―Times Literary Supplement on 70% ACRYLIC 30% WOOL

“Written in lavish language and with beautiful metaphors.” ―The Star Tribune on 70% ACRYLIC 30% WOOL

“I've read and loved her novels, which center around young, unconventional women.” ―Jami Attenberg, New York Times

“A subtle meditation on language and its failures.” ―Financial Times on 70% ACRYLIC 30% WOOL

Viola Di Grado's novels include Strega finalist and Campiello Award-winning 70% Acrylic 30% Wool and PEN Award Finalist Hollow Heart. She holds a degree in Eastern Languages from the University of Turin and a Masters from the University of London. She lives in London.

Jamie Richards is an American translator, editor, and writer. She holds an MFA from the University of Iowa and a PhD from the University of Oregon. A 2021 NEA fellowship recipient, Richards has translated works by Roberto Saviano, Igiaba Scego, and others.