Claudia Zanella and Christian Brogna, in conversation with Ginevra Barbetti, present Awake. Il magnifico viaggio nella mente umana di un neurochirurgo che opera i suoi pazienti da svegli. (Rizzoli)

The Book

A work that blends scientific insight with narrative tension, Awake weaves together many stories — including that of the surgeon himself, who, a few years ago, fell into a coma after contracting meningitis and personally experienced what happens to the mind in the limbo between life and death.

Rome, October 10, 2022.
In an operating room, a man presses his lips to his saxophone and his fingers to the keys, playing the notes of Love Story, while another man removes from his brain a tumor that everyone, until that moment, had deemed inoperable.
The surgeon is Christian Brogna. With his team, he has for years practiced “awake surgery,” a technique in which the patient remains awake, conscious, and able to interact — allowing the surgeon, through the patient’s responses, to map with millimetric precision the countless neural connections and minimize the risk of damaging them, thus preserving the cognitive, emotional, and relational functions that define each of us.

The operation on the saxophonist resonated around the world, but it was only one step in a long and complex journey — a path marked by study, discovery, decisive encounters, intuition, travel, and love.
In Awake, written in collaboration with author Claudia Zanella, we find it all: the sincere, moving, and deeply human story of a doctor who has always put his patients before everything else.

The Authors

CHRISTIAN BROGNA (Rome, 1980) is a neurosurgeon and the author of numerous scientific publications in international journals. He conducts research projects on innovative technologies and therapies for the treatment of brain tumors. After many years abroad, he has recently returned to Italy.
In 2024, he received a prestigious award from the Italian Medical Association for excellence in medicine and his remarkable contribution to patient care. He currently practices in Rome, supported by a team of internationally trained specialists.

CLAUDIA ZANELLA, born in Florence in 1979, lives in Rome. After earning a degree in Arts and Philosophy and a diploma from the National Film School, she began working as an actress. She has been directed by, among others, Luca Guadagnino and Gabriele Salvatores. She has written articles for various magazines and published Tu e nessun’altra(2015) and Meglio un giorno da vegana (2017).