Marcovaldo, ovvero le stagioni in città

By Italo Calvino

Book Overview

A charming portrait of one man's dreams and schemes, by "the greatest Italian writer of the twentieth century" (Guardian).

In this enchanting book of linked stories, Italo Calvino charts the disastrous schemes of an Italian peasant, an unskilled worker in a drab northern industrial city in the 1950s and '60s, struggling to reconcile his old country habits with his current urban life.

Marcovaldo has a practiced eye for spotting natural beauty and an unquenchable longing for the unspoiled rural world of his imagination. Much to the continuing puzzlement of his wife, his children, his boss, and his neighbors, he chases his dreams and gives rein to his fantasies, whether it's sleeping in the great outdoors on a park bench, following a stray cat, or trying to catch wasps. Unfortunately, the results are never quite what he anticipates.

Spanning from the 1950s to the 1960s, the twenty stories in Marcovaldo are alternately comic and melancholy, farce and fantasy. Throughout, Calvino's unassuming masterpiece "conveys the sensuous, tangible qualities of life" (New York Times).

Translated from the Italian by William Weaver.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156572044
• ISBN13: 9780156572040
• Release Date: November 1983
• Rating: Not Rated
• Publisher: Mariner Books Classics
• Runtime: 4 hours
• Length: 121 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Zany, poignant, and imaginative

What more could you expect of Calvino? Marcovoldo is the ultimate satire that deals with the frustrations of a marginal worker who can barely survive the trials and tribulations of a post industrial society that has forgotten how it's human to laugh. And laugh you will if you read this very ironic book of related short stories ... A must read for all Italo Calvino fans!

Start your adventure with Calvino here

This is a delightful masterpiece and the perfect introduction to the world of Calvino. It's episodic structure makes it easy to digest and the humor and irony are contagious. Whether it is guarding a "secret" stash of delectible mushrooms (with some regretful digestive consequences), trying to take a quick sunbath on a river barge at lunch hour, or suffering the endless glow of a nighttime neon sign, this book will never fail to satisfy. I was introduced to Calvino via this book - dive right in and take a swim, you'll get hooked too!

thank you italio calvino

I read this book when I was very sad, and it gave me back the world.

Simple Wonderful Magical

This is one of the very fine books I have ever read. I strongly recommend it to anybody who likes to view the world from a cynical yet humorous point of view.

His death, the author's, is a tragedy you won't believe

Marcovaldo is Superfudge Marcovaldo is Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing (in Italian) Marcovaldo is Gulliver's Travels Marcovaldo is The Stranger Marcovaldo is Cirque de Soleil Marcovaldo is the music of Phish Marcovaldo is Miles Davis' "Salt Peanuts" Marcovaldo is Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but funny Marcovaldo is the book that makes you cry If you had ever thought that you were creative that you might be creative that you will be creative that you are really creative think again.