Blessed are the contrarians, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. But they must be very, very careful in these Interesting Times! Contrarians are those who go against the current (as the dictionary states), who take opposing stands from the majority: in the stock markets they buy when others sell and vice-versa; in religious matters, if they are Christians, they continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, in spite of the Zeitgeist, and if they are not they have the utmost respect for what Christianity is all about and for its contribution to civilization. In matters of culture, education and lifestyles, they are "old-fashioned" while the rest of the world seems to be hell bent on transmuting order into chaos. This book is a kind of diary of a journey through our time-politics, culture, lifestyles, worldviews, etc.-and back home again, where "home" stands for a sense of belonging to something stronger than the spirit of our times. In other words what this book represents is a sort of explanation-though not a systematic one-of why the Author disagrees with certain mainstream views in several domains. And this from a conservative and Christian point of view, that is to say the perspectives that come under severe attack from secular and progressive ideologies, the over-influential schools of thought of our time.
About the Author: S. R. Piccoli (the initials stand for Samuele Roberto), aka Rob, was born the 13th November, 1950 on the Island of Maddalena-one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean-off the northeast coast of Sardinia. But his origins are nuanced. His mother was born in Philadelphia, although her family was originally from Liguria in northwest Italy, and his father was from Treviso in the northeast. When he was very young his family moved to Rome, where he first went to school. After attending Classical High School, he studied political science for two years at the University of Rome. He then moved to Treviso, where he eventually settled. From 1972 to 1975 Rob attended the University of Venice, where he graduated in philosophy. He also studied English at San Francisco State University in 1980. Rob has been a High School teacher almost all his working life. Now that he has retired, he can finally spend more time doing what he loves most: writing. In his Twitter profile he describes himself, "European by birth, American by philosophy," which after all is quite an accurate description. Perhaps it also supports the adage that brevity is the soul of wit. He lives with his wife, Clara, his daughter, Benedetta, and their dog, Lady, a golden retriever that swims like a fish and is crazy about tennis balls.