Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (living in fear of insanity) grasps for other ways of seeing - unable to trust his own memory and most fundamental cognitions. And although both novellas and the poetry in the book stand on their own, one may read the literary fiction and poetry (sandwiched between novellas) as a singular unique effort. Pessoa remains a familiar manifestation in the author's work. The parochial connections that incorporate progression and perspective align the composition in a collective manner; so the comprehensive influence is much larger than that of the individual pieces.

"After Fernando" recognizes universality in the conflicts of the iconic outsider. The life of Ophélia Queiroz (former lover of Pessoa) unfolds in an imaginary dream "where she has constructed her perfect day by winnowing out the chaff of her life's memories ..." The novella progresses in a talkative manner as the author vividly illuminates and reveals characters' conflicted souls through those that surround them. The fragmented polyglot poet, who didn't appear to touch the floor when he walked, incessantly suffered for his ability to see himself from the outside. He reveals that "countless lives inhabit us" - lives that often carry a greater sense of drama and action than our own lives seem to have. Obviously, Vincenzo Di Nicola remains cognizant that "the world is not yet done with Fernando."

Commensurate with Fernando, the author weaves literary fiction and poetry together much "like a secret orchestra that must work together in harmony to create a symphony." He alerts reader sensibilities and expands the limits of imagination. Poems (or "conversations") exploit a language passion with meticulous detail, illustrating a collective richness throughout - whether playful, anguishing or dissonant. The Collective as the last stage towards supreme consciousness presents an enlightening, different view of a richer, fuller life in the novella "Crowd Theory." Is the individual dead? As bees hive, sheep herd, geese gaggle and fish swarm, people crowd to form The Collective.

A recurring theme reflects seeing ourselves as others sees us on our way to evolutionary unity, which promotes that there is no existence without co-existence. "We see ourselves in others, you express someone else's opinions, your partner acts out a neighbour's desire. We live each others' lives." Again, these ideas vex the audience's thoughts and beliefs - often with the result of altering or changing a reader's perspective on life. The questions plaguing the central characters here reveal truths that offer the reader a deeper life understanding. The book examines the human condition, stimulating the audience towards some type of change, while the unsecured present flutters and remains in an irresolute or uncertain state of what could have been and what may yet be.

"The Unsecured Present" doesn't actually fall in a commercial category where the plot often occurs above the surface. Instead, plots take place beneath the surface and in the minds, desires and hearts of the characters. Social expectations and cultural issues influencing character actions furnish another stratum. Most imperative are predilections, ideas and character motivations - along with underlying cultural and social threads that act upon them. What occurs in the world is not as noteworthy as what's going on within the characters' minds. Hence, the novellas' climaxes may merely mirror something as simple as a new conviction or decision.

Vincenzo Di Nicola's decision to focus more on writing style and ideology with more psychological depth which appeals to a more intellectually-minded audience reigns paramount. His talented writing technique stitches together "from all the fragments, the absences, the disavowals, the gaps, the erasures and the corrections--just one connected, complete and very personal, perfect day" with the poet called Fernando.