Numbers in the Dark: And Other Stories

"Everybody telephones everybody at every possible moment, and nobody can speak to anybody . . . Distance has been the warp that supports the weft of every love story." -- from Numbers in the Dark

Written between 1943 and 1984, the stories in Numbers in the Dark span the career of one of fiction's modern masters: from Italo Calvino's earliest fables, to tales informed by life in World War II-era Italy, to the delightful experimentation that would define his later work. Here are speculative stories on life in the digital age, genre-bending wonders, and "impossible interviews" with the likes of Montezuma and a Neanderthal. Deftly translated by Tim Parks, Numbers in the Dark shows off Calvino's lifelong gift for subtle humor and shimmering philosophical insight.

"Numbers in the Dark is a glorious grab-bag . . . with] enough gems from every phase in Calvino's career to make it feel indispensable." -- Seattle Times

ITALO CALVINO’s superb storytelling gifts earned him international renown and a reputation as ＂one of the world’s best fabulists＂ (New York Times Book Review). At the time of his death in 1985, he was the most translated contemporary Italian writer.