Hermit in Paris

Autobiographical Writings

By: Martin McLaughlin translator, Italo Calvino

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

"As for my books, I regret not having published each one under a different nom de plume: that way I would feel freer to start again from scratch each time, just as I always try to do anyway." (from Hermit in Paris)

This posthumously published collection offers a unique, puzzle-like portrait of one of the postwar era's most inventive and mercurial writers. In letters and journals, occasional pieces and interviews, Italo Calvino recalls growing up in seaside Italy and fighting in the antifascist resistance during World War II, traces the course of his literary career, and reflects on his many travels, including a journey through the United States in 1959 and 1960 that brings out his droll wit at its best. Sparkling with wisdom and unexpected delights, Hermit in Paris is an autobiography like no other.

©2003 The Estate of Italo Calvino, 2003 Jonathan Cape (translation) (P)2018 Recorded Books

Worth it for the second half

These posthumous interviews and journals are largely unimportant, if occasionally interesting. The last 3 hours are full of great stuff about Calvino’s political history, though. His disillusionment and abandoning of communism is deeply and honestly reckoned with. His memories of being a child during the reign of Mussolini are also worthwhile, especially his in-depth examination of how the dictator’s portrait changed over the years, signaling shifts in power and propagandist strategies.