The Complete Cosmicomics
By (Author) Italo Calvino
Translated by Martin McLaughlin
Translated by Tim Parks
Translated by William Weaver
Penguin Books Ltd
Penguin Classics
9th July 2010
6th May 2010
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Short stories
853.914
Paperback
432
Width 128mm, Height 199mm, Spine 26mm
314g
First paperback publication of Italo Calvino's phenomenally funny account of the universe as a cosmic joke Enchanting stories about the evolution of the universe, with characters that are fashioned from mathematical formulae and cellular structures. They disport themselves among galaxies, experience the solidification of planets, move from aquatic to terrestrial existence, play games with hydrogen atoms - and have time for a love life. 'Naturally, we were all there, - old Qfwfq said, - where else could we have been Nobody knew then that there could be space. Or time either- what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines'
Italo Calvino, one of Italy's finest postwar writers, has delighted readers around the world with his deceptively simple, fable-like stories. Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and raised in San Remo, Italy; he fought for the Italian Resistance from 1943-45. He died in Siena in 1985, of a brain hemorrhage. Martin L. McLaughlin is Professor of Italian and Fiat-Serena Professor of Italian Studies at the University of Oxford where he is a Fellow of Magdalen College. He is the English translator of Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino among many others.