A poet Elio first meets in a bookstore in B. while on a date with Marzia. Wandering into the store, they learn that a book release party has just finished, so Elio buys two copies of the book, which is called Se l’amore, or If Love. “Is it good?” he asks the poet, not knowing he’s the author. “Pure junk,” Alfredo replies. “I should know. I wrote it.” Alfredo then signs Elio and Marzia’s copies, though he says, “I’m not sure this book is for you, but…” Strangely enough, Elio encounters Alfredo again several weeks later, this time in Rome. Having been invited to a reading by Oliver’s publisher, the two lovers go to a bookstore only to find out that the reading is for Alfredo’s collection of poetry. Alfredo reads a poem called “The San Clemente Syndrome” because Elio tells him it’s his favorite in the book. Later, Oliver and Elio go out for a wild night of drinking and lavish eating with Alfredo and his many friends, and Alfredo tells a long story about the genesis of “The San Clemente Syndrome,” which he frames as a poem about desire and homesickness.
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The Poet (Alfredo) Character Timeline in Call Me By Your Name
The timeline below shows where the character The Poet (Alfredo) appears in Call Me By Your Name. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 2: Monet’s Berm
...him to B. In town they eat ice cream and visit the bookstore, where a poet has just released his new collection, Se l’amore (If Love). Elio buys two copies—one for...
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Part 3: The San Clemente Syndrome
...the author of Se l’amore and realizes that this party is for him. As the poet walks by, Elio shakes his hand and tells him how much he liked his poems....
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...and grabs Elio’s hand and whisks him away, casting a derisive yet affectionate remark in Alfredo’s (the poet’s) direction as she goes. This woman, whose name is Lucia, doesn’t let go...
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Alfredo finally begins, explaining that Se l’amore came out of “a season in Thailand teaching Dante.”...
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Oliver looks at Elio as if to ask if he liked Alfredo’s poems, and Elio shrugs in a way that he hopes seems indifferent even though in...
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Resuming the reading, Alfredo reads “The San Clemente Syndrome,” though not without first prefacing it by saying that he’s...
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Alfredo speaks about the nature of travel, saying that no place is ever what one expects...
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