It is difficult to find a modern author writing in Italian more revered than Italo Calvino. Most critics choose to view his fantasies not as escapes from reality but as alternate ways to perceive it. Works studied in this text include Invisible Cities, The Cloven Viscount, The Baron in the Trees, and The Nonexistent Knight.

This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School; preeminent literary critic of our time. The world's most prominent writers of short stories are covered in one series with expert analysis by Bloom and other critics. These titles contain a wealth of information on the writers and short stories that are most commonly read in high schools, colleges, and universities.