Italian writer. He started studying mathematics at university, but quit to enroll at Milan's film-making school Civica Scuola di Cinema «Luchino Visconti», where he graduated in 1999. He taught himself American literature and started directing documentaries in 2004. He is the author of The Wild Boy and The Eight Mountains, an international sensation that won Italy's Strega Prize and the French Prix Médicis étranger. His latest book is Senza mai arrivare in cima.