Only those well-versed in life’s good cheer can cross the most important threshold and step out amused and ever curious to discover the unknown.  In Anime e acciughe (Souls and Anchovies, his debut), Achille Mauri took us by the hand and led us to the great beyond – where only writers have access to, where Dante and Orpheus dared tread, intrepid, in search of love.

In Achilles’ Paradox, Mauri informs us that that little excursion was but an appetizer, and that there’s no hurry to get out alive. After all, eternity is congenial to drawn-out spates of enjoyment. You left your watch at home, so to speak, or on the other side of life. Reap the rewards.

An irresistible sequel to Anime e acciughe, Achilles’ Paradox is first and foremost a story in itself. Achilles has become a celebrity among the dead. There’s a cloud of anchovies that follows him around. No happier, or bizarre, “train” was ever seen in the great beyond. 

Being a celebrity, he is invited to make the rounds on the convention circuit of the great beyond. He discusses love with Shakespeare and Wanda Osiris. He is distraught over immigration, along with Plato, Aeschylus and, among others, Zygmunt Bauman. Reflections on solitude, and moving yet amusing thoughts on aging. 

Achilles’ Paradox is an exuberant, profound novel. It explores the paradox that makes us human. The one that, in the end, makes us love death because it makes life that much more important, and inspires us to live every day of our lives with gusto.