Piso perturbatus: A Quirky Latin Novella

by Lance Piantaggini

Piso minds his Ps and Qs..(and Cs...and Ns and Os) in this alliterative tongue-twisting tale touching upon the Roman concepts of otium and negotium. Before Piso becomes a little poet, early signs of an old curmudgeon can be seen. Piso perturbatus can be read by the novice student known to curiously continue comprehending even the campiest content in the classroom. It has a unique word count of 36 (excluding different forms of the same word, names, and meaning established within the text), nearly all of which can be found in the novella’s final sentence of Ciceronian length! Listen to the audio at

68 pages, Paperback

Published February 18, 2018

Reviews

[Joost Kooiman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grappig en knap geschreven. Het kunstje van de vele alliteraties is leuk, maar wordt op een gegeven moment wel repetitief en het verhaal is ook nogal repetitief. Ik kon zo snel geen fouten ontdekken in het Latijn, maar vind het jammer dat vaak gekozen is voor meer Engelse woordvolgorde dan Latijnse. Toch leuk even lekker te lezen en leerzaam.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the Pisoverse, this tongue twistery novella will be an option for a few students in FVR. The novella felt more about the shape of the words than the plot, so most of my students will not gravitate toward it.

[Mark Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, easy read. Not much to the plot though.