Staff Pick
"In these essays, as in his other writing, Calvino's observations go beyond the surface and delve deep into the human experience. He can see in the dark. Astute, political, and urbane, Calvino is much more than a novelist; he's a philosopher of modern-day questions. Hermit in Paris proves an essential addition to any Calvino library."
Recommended by Ann E., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From one of modern literature’s most captivating and elusive masters comes a posthumous volume of thoughtful, elegant, and quick-witted autobiographical writings, all previously unpublished in English. Here is Italo Calvino paying homage to his literary influences and tracing the evolution of his signature style. Here are his reminiscences of Italy’s antifascist resistance and the frenzy of politics and ideas of the postwar era.
The longest and most delightfully revealing section of the book is Calvino’s diary of his travels in the United States in 1959 and 1960, which show him marveling at color TV, wrinkling his nose at the Beats, and reeling at the outpouring of racial hatred attending a civil rights demonstration in Alabama. Overflowing with insight and amusement, Hermit in Paris is an invaluable addition to the Calvino legacy.
Review:
“Surprising, tart, and distinctive, like [Calvino] himself.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Review:
“A book that any Calvino lover will want to purchase, pronto!” –The Seattle Times
Review:
“Distinguished by a sly philosophic humour. . . . a sensuous immediacy of detail and a droll wit. . . . a magnificent addition to the Planet Calvino.” – The Guardian
About the Author
Italo Calvino (1923—1985) was born in Cuba and grew up in San Remo, Italy. He was a member of the partisan movement during the German occupation of northern Italy in World War II. The novel that resulted from that experience, published in English as
The Path to the Nest of Spiders, won widespread acclaim. His other works of fiction include
The Baron in the Trees, The Castle of Crossed Destinies, Cosmicomics, Difficult Loves, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, Invisible Cities, Marcovaldo, Mr. Palomar, The Nonexistent Knight & the Cloven Viscount, t zero, Under the Jaguar Sun,
The Watcher and Other Stories, and
Numbers in the Dark. His works of nonfiction include include
The Road to San Giovanni and
Six Memos for the Next Millennium.
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