Hermit in Paris - Autobiographical Writings

London: Jonathan Cape, 2003. A clean and unmarked copy with dustjacket which is not price clipped and has marks to back. First edition, first printing. 255 pages. Translated from the Italian by Martin McLaughlin. Italo Calvino (1923-1985) was an Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels, lionised in Britain and the United States, he was the most-translated contemporary Italian writer at the time of his death, and a noted contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. The pieces collected here range from the early 1950's to his last interview just before his sudden death. Apart from shedding light on his own formative experience and evolution as an author, his writings also examine the major events of 20th century history from a very personal viewpoint: his memories of Fascism in San Remo in the 1930's, his participation in the Resistance in the Ligurian hills in the 1940's, his militant communism in the early 1950's, and his exit from the Italian Communist Party in 1957. Included is a previously unpublished travelogue recounting his visit on a Ford Foundation Grant to the USA in 1960, and his encounters with key figures of the time including Martin Luther King. His evocative homage to his adopted city, Paris, where he lived from 1967-1980 gives title to the book. 24. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.