By Pietro Giovannini — Photographs by Maurizio Beucci — Translated by Paolo Maria Noseda

The book is about a land still marked by contrasts and epic stories, populated by minor yet great heroes of everyday life as well as incredible visionaries. Hills, valleys and nature, together with few towns, villages and hamlets, ranging from lower Piedmont to Liguria, frame a disruptive yet timely narrative that suggests unusual itineraries captured by unexpected authorial images. The result is an original, intimate and true portrait of people and places with very different outlooks: stories that seem impossible to coexist in the space of so few kilometers. This is a book that seems to contain two: the first is a book for travellers who want to visit the Langhe without haste and without a destination, discovering a minor road network and unpublished itineraries; the other is for those who may never go to the Langa, keeping it as an island of the mind, an elsewhere where they can daydream without necessarily having to be there.

This is the tale of a custom-made Langa, where one can find what he or she is looking for, as long as one is not in a hurry and one relies on instinct and curiosity. The dual nature of the book is revealed in the binary structure of the chapters: on one side, there is the detailed and analytical geographical journey that accompanies the reader (and/or traveller) among scenic spots, country churches, villages and hamlets, without however relinquishing memories and anecdotes unhurriedly poured out, just like the itinerary which the traveller loves to dawdle over. On the other hand, there are the inserts that complete each geographical profile with stories and memories, customs and characters that have moulded these hills into the unique blend they are today.