Politician Makes Up Story

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A big-city mayor must be all things to all people: traffic cop, fix-it man, novelist. Novelist? Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni has expanded his public duties to include exploring his private fantasies. No, not those fantasies. Veltroni is too smart and ambitious a public servant — he is often mentioned as a future Italian Prime Minister — to write anything racy.

Still, his new book La Scoperta dell'Alba (Discovering the Dawn) has an intimate feel, following a 40-something's search for the cause of his father's disappearance during his childhood. "A mother can't abandon her child, but a father can. And many do. Men are scared of other people's pain," he writes.

Veltroni, who has already penned seven works of nonfiction, says writing is an escape. "Writing relaxes me," he told Time. "It's what comes easiest." Known for his around-the-clock approach to his day job, he finds time to write early in the morning and during Rome's notoriously relaxed lunch hour. Reviews of his new book have been good, and just 24 hours after its release last week, a second printing was ordered.

Veltroni cites Philip Roth and Ian McEwan as his favorite contemporary authors. But he also cites a more risqué name, Arthur Schnitzler, the Austrian writer who explored the limits of sexuality and the subconscious, and inspired Stanley Kubrick's film Eyes Wide Shut.

Asked if he had any of his own recurring dreams, Veltroni chuckled. "I dream with my eyes open, like any elected official should do," he said. "My job is to interpret the aspirations of the citizens I represent." At least the novelist has not forgotten how to speak like a politician.