This article analyzes one of the many examples of Italian contemporary writings that belong to the so-called Return of the Real. A reading of Antonio Pascale’s texts, in particular of his short stories in La manutenzione degli affetti and of Io sarò Stato – in which his own particular way of confronting the “infected” reality is to be found while at the same looking for a well-calibrated writer’s voice and gaze – lead to a conclusion that Pascale deploys the common figure of ‘sharing’ so much en vogue these days in social media. He looks and speaks about this reality with sympathy, as a part of the community.
