I read all De Carlo's books,and they have always been full of action,you were compelled to run across the pages to discover the next events,but in this one nothing really changes,the main character always leads the same life,without any great change.I think this book has no energie.If somebody looks for emotions,any of other De Carlo's books would be perfect except this one.

The novel, The Cream Train, is the first book with which Andrea De Carlo started his career in the world of literature. Among all his novels, nowadays we count nine tittles, he has published, this one is the most original and probably the best one.

The author shares his own experience once lived in the U.S. and transfers it to the pages of The Cream Train. His eye which is actually the real story teller, is going on the surface of the reality in the world of movies and dreams, such as California is. His eye is not just eating the surrounding world, catching and stopping it with his camera and but is also able to criticize the surrounding reality without any mercy or regrets. Why? Maybe because the world he, author and young hero, Giovanni Maimeri, is not that world he has been dreaming of, but it is sometimes completely different, tortured by mass media and surely not so pleasant as it might seam from a distance.

Anyway, the book is great help how to discover more thing about ourselves, especially when we are young and full of dreams and wishes; how difficult it is to connect our dreams with the reality.

The Cream Train, or Treno di Panna, is the author's first fiction published in his career. An Italian in his 20's comes to LA with no purpose nor money, and does several jobs from sandwich man, waiter, thru to a private italian language teacher for an Hollywood actress. he encounters some celebrities thanks to her, but nothing really happens. Amazingly this is all. Maybe you never find any specific plot nor at least something you might expect from a fiction, but this is actually why you must read it. The style is so dry and indifferent, but ironically you will find yourself indulged in those enormous descriptions! The Italian version is best for those who want to read something in Italian because it's full of easy images, and it's also good for those who are intersted in the cultural difference between Italy and USA. You will come to know what 'the cream train' means from the last chapter or from the actress' name, Marsha Mellows. A few Italians say she feels like Michelle Pfiffer, but who knows, read and imagine it yourself! If you like to read other Andrea De Carlo's, try also "Uccelli Da Gabbia e Da Voliera", his latest "Di Noi Tre", and "Tecniche Di Seduzione" where you'll find indirect criticism over Umberto Eco.