Author: Italo Calvino
Publisher: Mariner Book
Keywords: literature, uses
Number of Pages: 348
Published: 1987-10-21
List price: $15.95
ISBN-10: 0156932504
ISBN-13: 9780156932509

One comes away from this collection of intellectually playful essays...by Italy’s foremost modern novelist...inspired to go back and reread the body of his fiction in the light of his reflections on literature. -- Christopher Lehmann-HauptIn these widely praised essays, Calvino reflects on literature as process, the great narrative game in the course of which writer and reader are challenged to understand the world. Calvino himself made the selection of pieces to be included in this volume. Translated by Patrick Creagh. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Author: Italo Calvino
Publisher: Mariner Books
Keywords: palomar
Number of Pages: 144
Published: 1986-09-22
List price: $14.00
ISBN-10: 0156627809
ISBN-13: 9780156627801

Italo Calvino’s last fictional work is a witty, elegant, fantastic rendering of the ultimate observer, whose name, Mr. Palomar, deliberately evokes the famous telescope. "Beautiful, nimble, solitary feats of imagination" (The New York Times Book Review). Calvino is the acclaimed author of Difficult Loves and Invisible Cities.

Author: Italo Calvino
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Keywords: cosmicomics
Number of Pages: 153
Published: 1976-10-04
List price: $14.00
ISBN-10: 0156226006
ISBN-13: 9780156226004

Enchanting stories about the evolution of the universe, with characters that are fashioned from mathematical formulae and cellular structures. “Naturally, we were all there, - old Qfwfq said, - where else could we have been? Nobody knew then that there could be space. Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines?” Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Author: Italo Calvino
Publisher: Mariner Books
Keywords: sun, jaguar
Number of Pages: 96
Published: 1990-04-05
List price: $13.00
ISBN-10: 0156927942
ISBN-13: 9780156927949

Three senses-taste, hearing, and smell-dominate the lives of the characters in these witty, fantastical stories. But the senses, promising the fulfillment of desire and an exit from the self, only lead back to their source: the savoring palate, the listening ear, the smelling nose. “A sumptuous small gem of a book” (Publishers Weekly). Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Author: Italo Calvino
Publisher: Mariner Books
Keywords: trees, baron
Number of Pages: 228
Published: 1977-03-28
List price: $13.00
ISBN-10: 0156106809
ISBN-13: 9780156106801

Cosimo, a young eighteenth-century Italian nobleman, rebels by climbing into the trees to remain there for the rest of his life. He adapts efficiently to an arboreal existence and even has love affairs. Translated by Archibald Colquhoun.

Author: Italo Calvino
Publisher: Mariner Books
Keywords: cities, invisible
Number of Pages: 165
Published: 1978-05-03
List price: $14.00
ISBN-10: 0156453800
ISBN-13: 9780156453806

Imaginary conversations between Marco Polo and his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, conjure up cities of magical times. “Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvelous invention like Invisible Cities, perfectly irrelevant” (Gore Vidal). Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Author: Italo Calvino
Publisher: Mariner Books
Keywords: loves, difficult
Number of Pages: 300
Published: 1985-09-23
List price: $14.00
ISBN-10: 0156260557
ISBN-13: 9780156260558

Tales of love and loneliness in which the author blends reality and illusion. “The quirkiness and grace of the writing, the originality of the imagination at work,...and a certain lovable nuttiness make this collection well worth reading” (Margaret Atwood). Translated by William Weaver, Peggy Wright, and Archibald Colquhoun. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book