The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories (A Penguin Classics Hardcover)

Great diversity in time period and genre of the stories, which necessarily means not all of them will be to one’s liking. The ones that stuck with me the most:

- The Siren by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. “Late in the autumn of 1938 I came down with a severe case of misanthropy.” is a great opening line, and “… my local girl no. 1, rifling my pockets (…) discovered a short letter from girl no. 2” is not a bad follow-up.

- Invitation to Dinner by Alba de Céspedes. I read it as an indictment of southern Europeans’ inferiority complex w.r.t Anglos and found it relatable.

- Dialogue with a Tortoise by Italo Calvino. Short and sweet philosophy.

- The Miraculous Beach, or Prize for Modesty by Massimo Bontempelli. Nice and surreal.

- The Baboon by Giovanni Arpino. Went in a completely different direction than I expected, especially due to when it was written. Ahead of its time, I’d say.