Marcovaldo is viewed as a simpleton by the more jaded people of the city. In this collection of short stories, Italo Calvino tells the tales of Marcovaldo as he experiences the four seasons living in a city somewhere in northern Italy, where the people of the city are more streetsmart and cynical than the innocent Marcovaldo.Ĭalvino constructs this book to cycle through each of the seasons, with stories focusing on spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and then continuing on to the next year.Įach season, Marcovaldo is enraptured by one of life's simple pleasures, often relating to unexpected natural beauty or delicious food. Marcovaldo is a pure and innocent man, captivated by the simple things in life. I have tried to remove weight, sometimes from people, sometimes from heavenly bodies, sometimes from cities above all I have tried to remove weight from the structure of stories and from language.' He wrote: ' My working method has more often than not involved the subtraction of weight. Some of his writing has been called postmodern, reflecting on literature and the act of reading, while some has been labeled magical realist, others fables, others simply 'modern'. His style is not easy to classify much of his writing has an air reminiscent to that of fantastical fairy tales ( Our Ancestors, Cosmicomics), although sometimes his writing is more 'realistic' and in the scenic mode of observation ( Difficult Loves, for example). His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy (1952-1959), the Cosmicomics collection of short stories (1965), and the novels Invisible Cities (1972) and If On a Winter's Night a Traveler (1979).

He was a journalist and writer of short stories and novels.

Italo Calvino was born in Cuba and grew up in Italy.

Marcovaldo by italo calvino