In Boccaccio’s Corpus, James C. Kriesel explores how medieval ideas about the body and gender inspired Boccaccio’s vernacular and Latin writings. Scholars have observed that Boccaccio distinguished hi
At the start of 1987, Primo Levi took part in a remarkable series of conversations about his early life with a friend and fellow writer, Giovanni Tesio. This book is the result of those meetings, orig
At the start of 1987, Primo Levi took part in a remarkable series of conversations about his early life with a friend and fellow writer, Giovanni Tesio. This book is the result of those meetings, orig
Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922–75) was one of the most important Italian intellectuals of the post–World War II era. An astonishing polymath—poet, novelist, literary critic, political polemicist, screenwri
Dacia Maraini’s Narratives of Survival: (Re)Constructedexplores key narratives published between1984 and 2004 through an elaboration of the paradigm of reconstruction. Using close textual analysis and
This book revisits the philosophy and aesthetic Elsa Morante outlined in her literary writings, essays, articles, reviews, and poetry. Stefania Lucamante presents a fresh outlook at Morante’s work to
Revenge?Revenge is so sweet one often wishes to be insulted so as to be able to take revenge, and I don’t mean just by an old enemy, but anyone, or even (especially when in a really bad mood) by a fri
A profile of the controversial Italian poet and nationalist is set against a backdrop of early 20th-century Italy's transition from Romantic idealism to fascism and war and includes coverage of such t
A groundbreaking translation of a foundational work by the forefront 19th-century Italian poet is drawn from his immense literary notebook and offers insight into his views on topics ranging from reli
What does it mean for a painter to remain a visual artist even as a writer? Carlo Levi's Visual Poetics engages this question through a critical re-examination of one of the most influential Italian i
Roberto Saviano is back confronting the injustices of organized crime in Italy. In his writings, articles and books he employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra (a pow
Giorgio Manganelli (1922-1990), one of Italy’s most radical and original writers, went further than most in exploring the creative possibilities of hybrid genres and open forms. Ostentation, theatrica
`Building a Monument to Dante successfully tackles the topic of Boccaccio's life-long interest in Dante from a novel point of view, interrogating the many facets of Boccaccio's activity as dantista al
Italian novelist, poet, and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini was brutally killed in Rome in 1975, a macabre end to a career that often explored humanity’s capacity for violence and cruelty. Along with th
On June 23rd, 1950, Pavese, Italy's greatest modern writer received the coveted Strega Award for his novel Among Women Only. On August 26th, in a small hotel in his home town of Turin, he took his ow
"Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) experimented with such a wide variety of genres that critics have tended to focus more on the differences among his works than on their underlying similarities. However
Chiara Matraini (1515–1604?) was a member of the great flowering of poetic imitators and innovators in the Italian literary heritage begun by Petrarch, cultivated later by the lyric poet Pietro Bembo,
