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There are moments when you want to escape thousands of kilometers away, perhaps to Patagonia.
Other times, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world. Moments when you'd like to stop time to hold them close to you, even though you know that sooner or later you'll have to let them go…
At the center of this book are the adventures and misadventures of a father dealing with three daughters aged thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen.
A journey filled with kilometers of constant running around and a vocabulary in perpetual update, with words like flexare and ghostare, while the growth in centimeters in height equals tons of effort and, at the same time, happiness.
An ironic and self-deprecating tale, reflective but not too much, and also a manual of anecdotes and lived stories, to survive adolescence… especially when the teenagers are three!
Ivan Villa “Collapsed Nights… Grunts at Breakfast”, NeP Edizioni
“Collapsed Nights… Grunts at Breakfast” by Ivan Villa is a book that, from the title itself, hints at the light and ironic tone that characterizes it. Through a series of short stories, the author observes with an affectionate, amusing, and deeply human gaze the daily life of a family dealing with the growth of three teenage daughters and the ongoing negotiation that accompanies every stage of parenting. Amid endless journeys to take the daughters to school or practice, strategies to balance the family budget, and mornings marked by alarms, occupied bathrooms, and communication reduced to simple grunts, a journey takes shape filled with kilometers, unexpected events, and a constantly evolving lexicon, populated by terms like flexing and ghosting. Meanwhile, the centimeters gained in height by the daughters seem to transform, for the parents, into tons of effort, but also happiness. With a personal and immediately recognizable style, the author constructs a lively narrative, filled with rapid dialogues, asides, lists, quotes, and continuous changes of pace. His writing naturally alternates between comedy and melancholy, lightness and depth, creating pages capable of making you smile and, at the same time, touching your heart. The three daughters become the common thread of a story that explores the transition from childhood to adolescence, with its inevitable embarrassments, small rebellions, silences, and that distance that grows along with love. Enriched by literary and cultural references ranging from Bukowski to Borges, the book always keeps the humanity of the characters and the wonderful chaos of everyday life at its center. Villa weaves moments of irresistible humor with others of genuine tenderness, crafting a narrative in which parents, teachers, and educators can easily recognize themselves. A work that celebrates the imperfections, precarious balances, and extraordinary normality of today's families, reminding us that growing up means, above all, changing together.
Ivan Villa works with children and teenagers, in every order and disorder of schools. He has published Brr… What Stories! (Emme Edizioni, 2019), First Year of Middle School, I Better Do Well! (Lapis edizioni, 2021), The Ibex's Vertigo (Lapis edizioni, 2025), novels for children and teenagers. He collaborates, as an author of puzzles, concentric frames, and cryptograms, with La Settimana Enigmistica, earning important awards and recognitions. He lives surrounded by his wife, three daughters, two cats, and a dog in Concorezzo (MB).
SOURCE: https://tuttatoscanalibri.com/2026/07/22/ivan-villa-notti-collassate-grugniti-a-colazione-nep-edizioni/
Collapsed nights... grunts at breakfast.
Ivan Villa “Collapsed Nights… Grunts at Breakfast” NeP Edizioni
There comes a moment in every parent's life when Patagonia seems like a reasonable destination. Ivan Villa knows it well: at the heart of his book are the adventures and misadventures of a father dealing with three daughters aged thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen. Three teenagers together, under the same roof, with only one bathroom available in the morning. nepedizioni
The book unfolds through short stories, small snapshots of family life where endless journeys to school or practice, balancing budgets, alarms, and occupied bathrooms become narrative material. And then there's the language, which changes faster than clothing sizes: a vocabulary in constant update, with words like flexing and ghosting, while breakfast conversations are reduced to a few grunts.
Villa's writing has a unique rhythm, composed of quick dialogues, parentheses, lists, quotes, and constant changes of pace, moving naturally from comedy to melancholy. There are literary references ranging from Bukowski to Borges, but the heart remains the family, with its embarrassments, silences, and the distance that grows just as affection does. A book that makes parents, teachers, and educators smile, reminding us that growing up is a journey for two: those who grow and those who watch, a bit exhausted. “collapsed nights…grunts at breakfast”: parenting and adolescence told with irony in Ivan Villa's book
Ivan Villa works with children and teenagers, “in every order and disorder of schools.” For childhood and adolescence, he wrote Brr… What Stories! (Emme Edizioni, 2019), First Year of Middle School, I Better Do Well! (Lapis, 2021), and The Ibex's Vertigo (Lapis, 2025). He is also an author of puzzles, concentric frames, and cryptograms for La Settimana Enigmistica, with awards and recognitions.
Ivan Villa works with children and teenagers, in every type and disorder of schools.
He has published Brr... What Stories! (Emme Edizioni, 2019), First Year of Middle School, I Better Do Well! (Lapis Edizioni, 2021), The Ibex's Vertigo (Lapis Edizioni, 2025), novels for children and adolescents.
He collaborates as an author of puzzles, concentric frames, and cryptograms with La Settimana Enigmistica, receiving important awards and recognitions.
He lives surrounded by his wife, three daughters, two cats, and a dog in Concorezzo (MB).