Nicola Pugliese  Nicola Pugliese ( Milan , 8 August 1944 - Avella , 25 April 2012 ) was an Italian author and journalist. He published his debut novel, "Malacqua," in 1977. Despite selling out in days, he requested not be reprinted and retired to a private life in Avella. It wasn’t printed again until after his death in 2012. An English translation of "Malacqua" (trans. Shaun Whiteside) was published by And Other Stories in 2017.