The Long Exit from the Snake Pole Days recounts the tale of a 12-year-old boy―Ernestino Salvatore―in a small town in the Campagna region of Italy. He first awakens to the realities of life when he mistakenly pinches a massive black snake while picking blackberries. Frightened and shocked by the experience, his father makes him a snake pole and teaches him how to use it to avoid future encounters. The father's bewildering explanation about...