Fortunato Stefano D'Arrigo was born in Alì Terme, in the province of Messina. He graduated from the University of Messina.
He worked on Horcynus Orca from about 1950 until it was published in 1975. Originally it was called La testa del delfino, and was renamed I giorni della fera (that became I fatti della fera) for its first planned publication in 1961. D’Arrigo dedicated Horcynus Orca to his wife Jutta Bruto because she helped him in the drafting of it. As of 2015, the work has not been translated into English. An excerpt appears in Peter Forbes's translation of Primo Levi's anthology, The Search for Roots.
In 1961 D'Arrigo played a minor role in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s first film, Accattone.
Ma questa edizione, o questo libro che ho io... L'ordine delle pagine è tutto disordinato e mescolato: 33 - 48 (inizia a metà) / 17 - 32 / 1 - 16 (c'è qui l'introduzione) / 49 - 64 / 49 - 64 (quindi mi mancano 20pag.) / 81 - 89 (????)