Andromeda Romano-Lax's "The Detour," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: The Detour by Andromeda Romano-Lax.

The entry begins:

When The Detour opens, in 1938, my young Bavarian narrator, Ernst Vogler, is a little naïve. He desperately wants to be apolitical, to lose himself in the world of classical art. But alas, he works for the world’s most unscrupulous art collector, a.k.a. the Führer. Too bad for Vogler. It’s hard to do the Nazis’ dirty work without a little bit of misfortune rubbing off on you.

Vogler is sent by the Führer to Italy to retrieve a famous ancient statue, the Discus Thrower. From his first hours in Rome, everything goes wrong. What is supposed to be a simple assignment ends up becoming a rural road trip that changes Vogler’s life.

In terms of casting, we need a man who can pass for young (24) and slightly older (34), a man who is athletic but also intellectual, a man who starts out strait-laced and becomes—finally—more willing to take risks, to pursue passion, to reconsider everything. (And oh yes, we must believe that an Italian woman will fall for him. Yes, this movie gets an R rating.)

I’m thinking Leonardo DiCaprio. Not just because he can...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Andromeda Romano-Lax's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Spanish Bow.

The Page 69 Test: The Detour.

My Book, The Movie: The Detour.

--Marshal Zeringue