“No comparison to Jack London”

“I didn’t compare myself to Jack London. I wanted to make a comparison between another way of telling love. The two protagonists, Martin Eden as Stefano Mancini, have changed for the love of a woman. I’m sorry that many people can criticize without having read the research I did”. This is the answer when asked by Adnkronos the writer Friedrich Moccia, he commented on the news of his degree in Modern Literature from Marconi University, which he had completed with a thesis on comparing the vision of the concept of “love” between Moccia himself and Jack London. After Moccia’s announcement on social media, as well as compliments on the result, the 59-year-old Roman writer joined onean avalanche of ironic and irreverent posts which was interpreted as a hasty comparison.

Moccia replies with an anecdote: “Once I went to a pharmacy to buy aspirin and the clerk said to me, ‘Are you Moccia? I didn’t like your books’. Out of curiosity, I asked her ‘but which ones in Didn’t you like it that much?’ and she replied… ‘No, no, I haven’t read them…’ Well, I smiled, but I could never criticize to express without knowing what I’m talking about“.

Regarding the thesis that Moccia presented and which, together with his studies, brought him 107 out of 110 votes, he explained to Adnkronos: “One should never stop studying. I wanted to thank Jack London and all the teachers who made me love reading and writing. In the thesis I explain how even Jack London was criticized while doing nothing but telling his life story. The same thing happened to me when I wrote “Ten Feet Above the Sky”. The publishers rejected it, they thought it was excessive and yet it was my life. I published it out of my own pocket and over time it has become such an incredible success that it was released in America this year!” explains the author. Which concludes with a warning: “The work is an invitation to everyone to believe in themselves”.