"The perfect companion whenever I get around to that trip to Rome." –
Jeva Lange, The Week "An excellent introduction to Italy–a sentimental Baedeker useful for traveling into the mind of a fascinating if elusive nation . . . To have re-discovered, edited, and re-proposed these authors is laudable. But Lahiri went further: she understood them. And she shares a deep appreciation for their common denominator: Italy. . . . This is the real Italy. And
The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories demonstrates this better than any travel guide does." –
Beppe Severgnini, Air Mail "A remarkable introduction to Italian literature and a great gift to the English-speaking reader . . . Each story in this volume is a jewel." –
Kirkus Reviews, starred review "A welcome addition to the shelf of Penguin anthologies of world literature . . . [Lahiri] features women, authors less-known or neglected, and those 'who practiced the short form with particular vehemence and virtuosity.' . . .
The Penguin Book of Short Stories may reward the patient listener to the voices of these tellers." –
PopMatters "Jhumpa Lahiri crowns her public turn as an Italophile and translator with [
The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories]. . . . It could hardly come at a better time, when Elena Ferrante's novels and the American revival of Natalia Ginzburg are igniting new interest in the literary traditions of the
Belpaese." –
Lit Hub "Rich . . . Eclectic . . . A feast . . . Her choice of 40 authors embraces familiar greats and sows them with fascinating additions. . . . They remind us of the short story's playfulness, its ability to move us with unexpected sharpness while it experiments with voices, styles and boundaries." –
The Telegraph "An enticing collection . . . The tales are by turns startling, moving, intriguing and provocative; they bring melancholy, humor and a dose of the uncanny." –
The Times Literary Supplement "Refreshing and surprisingly contemporary . . . A map of Ferrante's hinterland . . . Lahiri has pulled off something quite striking here: a literary anthology that sparkles with invention and variety, makes a remarkably convincing case for the vitality of the modern Italian short story and also beguiles, thanks to her sharp-eyed work as editor, compiler and part-translator. . . . There's a gamut of register–comedy, fantasy, satire, psychological and social realism and more. . . . There are plenty of big hitters–Lampedusa, Svevo, Sciascia, Gadda, Calvino–though they are often represented with nicely unpredictable stories. . . . And there are captivating juxtapositions. . . . Throughout, Lahiri displays deft literary and linguistic touches. She is clearly enjoying this. She provides elegant one-page bios for all forty writers. . . . She writes with compelling force of the dense pluralism of voice in Italian language and literature. Crucially, she also makes a point of championing the extraordinary depth and quality of women's voices." –
Literary Review "This volume, which honors so many writer-translators, is as much a tribute to the Italian short story as it is a validation of the need–aesthetic, political, ethical–for translation itself. . . . Only works in translation can broaden the literary horizon, open doors, break down the wall." –
Jhumpa Lahiri, from the Introduction