Reproduction of the original: Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane

One of the New York Times’s Ten Best Books of the Year: These traditional stories of Italy, retold by a literary master, are “a treasure” (Los Angeles Times). Filled with kings and peasants, saints and ogres—as well as some quite extraordinary plants and animals—these two hundred tales bring to life Italy’s folklore, sometimes with earthy humor, sometimes with noble mystery, and sometimes with the playfulness of sheer nonsense. Selected and retold by one of the country’s greatest literary icons, “this collection stands with the finest folktale collections anywhere” (The New York Times Book Review). “For readers of any age . . . A masterwork.” —The Wall Street Journal “A magic book, and a classic to boot.” —Time

This anthology serves as a literary map to guide readers through the varied geography of contemporary Italian fiction. Massimo Riva has gathered English-language translations of short stories and excerpts from novels that were originally published in Italian between 1975 and 2001. As an expression of a communal contemporary condition, these narratives suggest a new sensibility and a new way of seeing, exploring, and inhabiting the world, in writing. Riva provides a comprehensive introduction to Italian literary trends of the past twenty years. Each selection is preceded by a short introduction and biography of the writer. For English-language readers who are familiar with the work of Italo Calvino and Umberto Eco, this collection presents an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the work of other important contemporary Italian writers of fiction.