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Marcovaldo

By Italo Calvino
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Check link for latest rating. ( 16,433 ratings, 1,115 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Marcovaldo by Italo Calvino is a collection of whimsical tales about a blue-collar worker living in a city filled with industrial bleakness. Marcovaldo yearns for nature amidst urban life, often getting entangled in humorous and poignant adventures. Through these vignettes, the book explores themes of adaptation, disappointment, and the small joys found in everyday moments.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate charming, episodic tales filled with wit and imagination. Set in a bustling cityscape, it follows the whimsical adventures of an observant man who finds moments of nature amidst urban life. It's perfect for those who delight in poignant and humorous insights into the everyday world.

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Marcovaldo

Marcovaldo is an enchanting collection of twenty stories that are both melancholy and funny, farce and fantasy. Calvino charts the struggles of an Italian peasant to reconcile country habits with urban life, combining comical disasters with a surrealistic view of city life through the eyes of an outsider.

'The most magically ingenious of the contemporary Italian novelists' The Times

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Marcovaldo is an enchanting collection of stories, both melancholy and funny, about an Italian peasant's struggle to reconcile country habits with urban life. Oblivious to the garish attractions of the town, Marcovaldo is the attentive recorder of natural phenomenon.

The reader's heart bleeds for Marcovaldo in his tenacious pursuit of lost domains, but the stories are full of mirth and fun. They lie between farce and fantasy, combining comical disasters with a surrealistic view of city life through the eyes of an outsider.

Nothing, as always with Calvino, is quite as it seems. Books and Bookmen

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Italo Calvino is celebrated as a great writer with each book being a unique creation. Marcovaldo is considered one of his best works, praised for its refinement, oddness, and humour akin to Borges. Critics highlight its narrative drive and ability to convey the tangible qualities of life, showcasing Calvino's imaginative mastery.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099428541

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 22 March 2001

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by William Weaver
  • Translated by William Weaver

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 8.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 106g

Pages: 144

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Italo Calvino Literary Fiction Penguin Books

About the Author

Italo Calvino (Author) Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and grew up in Italy. He was an essayist and journalist and a member of the editorial staff of Einaudi in Turin. One of the most respected writers of the twentieth century, his best-known works of fiction include Invisible Cities, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, Marcovaldo and Mr Palomar. In 1973 he won the prestigious Premio Feltrinelli. He died in 1985. A collection of Calvino's posthumous personal writings, The Hermit in Paris, was published in 2003. William Weaver (Translator) William Weaver has translated Umberto Eco, Italo Svevo, Primo Levi, Italo Calvino and Roberto Calasso, among others. He is a professor at Bard College.

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