The Written World and the Unwritten World Essays

“Wonderful... Calvino's prose is sparkling as ever, and he approaches ideas with wit and an open mind, always ready to challenge a stale point of view. This anthology will delight Calvino fans old and new.” —Publishers Weekly

A rich collection of essays offering an extraordinary global view of Calvino's approach to writing, reading, and interpreting literature.

An extraordinary collection of essays, forewords, articles, and interviews, The Written World and the Unwritten World displays the remarkable intelligence and razor-sharp wit of prolific Italian writer Italo Calvino as he explores the meaning of literature in a rapidly changing world. From classics to contemporary literature, from tradition to the avant-garde, Calvino masterfully explores reading, writing, and translating through careful and illuminating discussion of the works of Bakhtin, Brecht, Cortázar, Thomas Mann, Octavio Paz, Georges Perec, Salman Rushdie, Gore Vidal, and more. Drawn from Mondo scritto e mondo non scritto (2002), Sulla fiaba (1988), and other uncollected essays, this volume of previously untranslated work—now rendered in English by acclaimed translator Ann Goldstein—is a major statement in literary criticism.

Translated by the acclaimed Ann Goldstein, this landmark collection offers Calvino's unparalleled insights on:

• The Art of Fiction: Calvino reflects on the novel, the role of characters and names, and the very act of storytelling with his signature wit and precision.
• World Literature: Illuminating discussions on literary titans from Cortázar and Borges to Salman Rushdie and Gore Vidal, viewed through Calvino's global lens.
• Literary Theory: A master's take on realism, the avant-garde, and the intricate relationship between literature and power.
• On Translation: Explore the challenges and miracles of translation, which Calvino calls "the true way of reading a text."
• Science and Anthropology: Venture beyond literary criticism into Calvino's fascinating inquiries on cosmology, history, and the origins of culture.