Difficult Loves

In this volume the lives of ordinary people are transformed through the consummate artistry of Italy's master storyteller into brilliant explorations of intricate interior worlds. Blending reality and illusion with elegance and precision, Calvino weaves into these tales instants of recognition in which cherished deceptions and illusions of love — frequently self-love — are swept away.

Three gluttonous burglars invade a pastry shop, a young clerk leaves a lady's bed at dawn, a young woman is isolated from bathers on a beach by the loss of her bikini bottom, two children trespass upon a forbidden garden — each of them discovering hidden truths beneath the surface of everyday life.