Author:Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino in Collection of Sand claimed that 'the brain begins in the eye'. The essays collected here display his fascination with the visual universe, in which the things we see tell a truth about the world. With encyclopedic knowledge and engaging curiosity, Calvino writes about such diverse subjects as the imaginative pleasures of maps, bizarre exhibitions and the earliest forms of written language. Books and paintings provoke discussions of artistic motivation, while descriptions of a meticulous Japanese garden, Trajan's column crumbling to dust or a Mexican temple smothered by the jungle lead to contemplations on space, time and civilization.
Surprising and profound, Collection of Sand provides a glimpse into the mind of a master of the magination.
Italo Calvino, one of Italy's finest postwar writers, has delighted readers around the world with his deceptively simple, fable-like stories. Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and raised in San Remo, Italy; he fought for the Italian Resistance from 1943-45. He died in Siena in 1985, of a brain hemorrhage.
Martin L. McLaughlin is Professor of Italian and Fiat-Serena Professor of Italian Studies at the University of Oxford where he is a Fellow of Magdalen College. He is the English translator of Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino among many others.
A brilliant collection that may change the way you see the world around you
—— GuardianA pleasure . . . offers new glimpses into the mind of the great writer while also reminding us of Calvino's insatiable curiosity
—— IndependentA delight, these essays are distinguished by a sly philosophic humour and whimsy
—— SpectatorWolitzer has a knack for homing in on the kind of pretension-puncturing details that can sum up a minor character in a single sentence
—— Hepzibah Anderson , Daily MailMeg Wolitzer writes fluently about the American Dream and whether you should surrender your goals to reality in this wonderful novel
—— StylistI love Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings because it’s sprawling and beautifully written and it opens at a summer camp. It’s a truly great novel about friendship, and how it deepens and changes over the years
—— David Sedaris , Conde Nast TravellerA breakout book
—— Allison PearsonIf you enjoy the introspective aspects of Virginia Woolf or the American modernity of Jennifer Egan, you’ll love this sweeping, tragicomic novel of ideas
—— PsychologiesOne of those generation-defining America novels that tackles big historical issues
—— Marie ClaireFull of wit
—— Emerald StreetThe wit, intelligence and deep feeling of Wolitzer’s writing are extraordinary and The Interestings brings her achievement, already so steadfast and remarkable, to an even higher level
—— Jeffrey EugenidesMeg Wolitzer’s latest offering promises to be the epic novel of the summer
—— Stella, Sunday TelegraphA wonderful novel, written with warmth and depth of emotion
—— Kate Mosse , The TimesThis is an exhilarating, aerobatic, addictive novel
—— Claire Lowdon , Sunday TimesMeg Wolitzer’s best novel yet
—— William Leith , Evening StandardThe dreamy, criss-crossing narrative proves Wolitzer one of America’s most ingenious and important writers
—— Sunday TelegraphAn engrossing look at life’s twists and turns
—— Woman's WeeklyThe wit, intelligence and deep feeling of Wolitzer’s writing are extraordinary and The Interestings brings her achievement, already so steadfast and remarkable, to an even higher level.
—— JEFFREY EUGENIDESThis is a wonderful book. Intelligent and subtle, it is exquisitely written with enormous warmth and depth of emotion… Wolitzer is an affectionate and clear-sighted observer of human nature
—— Kate Mosse , The TimesMeg Wolitzer proves brilliant at writing normal, unremarkable lives, investing them with just as much detailed attention and humane humour as the lives of the beautiful, the rich and the famous… [She] also pulls off an impressive balancing act, sometimes inhabiting the moment-to-moment present of her characters, and at others times writing with a droll hindsight
—— Holly Williams , Independent on SundayThere are certain authors whose new book you look forward to as though you were about to catch up on news from an old friend. And there are authors whose new book you fall on greedily because you know it will be tartly delicious and satisfy a hunger you didn’t know you had till you read them for the first time. For me, Meg Wolitzer has long been in both of those categories… The Interestings is full of Wolitzer’s trademark pleasures. I love her fearlessness in tackling everything … She has a sly wit and verbal brio which can even make clinical depression entertaining
—— Allison Pearson , Daily Telegraph