The structure of History, a Novel, departs substantially from Morante’s previous novels and poses some interesting interpretative questions. While critics have often pointed to similarities with the narrative structure of 19th-century novels, perhaps one can look further back in time. I am thinking specifically of Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of The Plague Year, first published in 1722.
A Chemist’s Book Changed John Barnett’s Life.
Chemist and writer Primo Levi’s The Periodic Table—a memoir in the form of short stories about elements—closes with a chapter…
Angelo Fortunato Formiggini: An Italian Publisher
Eliza Pederzoli’s biography L’arte di farsi conoscere. Formiggini e la diffusione del libro e della cultura italiana nel mondo (Roma,…
Slavery and Conversion in Papal Rome
Scholar of forced baptisms Marina Caffiero talks about the House of Catechumens and the various groups that were forcibly or…
Marina Jarre’s Distant Fathers
Rewarding memoirs, like portraits, introduce us to a central character interacting with his or her world at a specific time…
