Six Memos for the Next Millennium [Paperback]

“One of the most rigorously presented and beautifully illustrated critical testaments in all of literature.”—Boston Globe

“A brilliant, original approach to literature, a key to Calvino’s own work and a thoroughly delightful and illuminating commentary on some of the world’s greatest writing.”—San Francisco Chronicle

At the time of his death, Italo Calvino was at work on six lectures setting forth the qualities in writing he most valued, and which he believed would define literature in the century to come. Here, inSix Memos for the Next Millennium, are the five lectures he completed, forming not only a stirring defense of literature, but also an indispensable guide to the writings of Calvino himself. He devotes one “memo” each to the concepts oflightness,quickness,exactitude,visibility, andmultiplicity, drawing examples from his vast knowledge of myth, folklore, and works both ancient and modern. Readers will be astonished by the prescience of these lectures, which have only gained in relevance as Calvino’s “next millennium” has dawned.

A collection of five lectures Italo Calvino was preparing to deliver at the time of his death, setting forth the qualities in writing he most valued, and which he believed would define literature in the century to come. Together, these memos form a stirring defense of literature and an indispensable guide to Calvino's own work.

"Enchanting... Calvino woos you... If you take the time to absorb this book, you will never read or write the same way again... he will provide you with a rich new way of looking and thinking." —PASTE MAGAZINE
 

ITALO CALVINO’s (1923-1985) superb storytelling gifts earned him international renown and a reputation as “one of the world’s best fablƒ-