Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923. He grew up in Italy. He was an essayist and journalist and a member of the editorial staff of Einaudi in Turin. In 1973 he won the prestigious Premio Feltrinelli. He died in 1985

This brilliant collection of essays should be a feast for his admirers, as well as for those who approach his dazzling oeuvre for the first time...Calvino is not only constantly and supremely intelligent; he is constantly and supremely faithful to his narrative imagination