All the Errors - Softcover

Manganelli, Giorgio; Henry Martin, Translator

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0929701062 ISBN 13: 9780929701066

Publisher: McPherson, 1990

Synopsis

Until the appearance of All the Errors in 1990, Giorgio Manganelli's works had been translated into every major Western language except English: Henry Martin's fluid translation redresses the oversight of this eloquent, meticulous Italian master, presenting a book of Manganelli's distinctively original shorter fictions. These are seven narratives of metaphysical exploration. One story is the valedictory monologue of a soul on the verge of being born; another tells of a labyrinth that enters itself, seeking to explain its own pathways; in still another, a man and a woman offer mirroring explanations of why they cannot love each other. These are tales of solitude, yet a solitude touched with hope, and they share an allegiance to the themes of Sartre, Camus, Kafka, and Calvino.

About this title

About the Author

Giorgio Manganelli was born in Milan in 1922, but lived most of his adult life in Rome, where he died in 1990. In the early 1960s he was a member of the avant-garde group "Gruppo '63," which included Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco, Gianfranco Baruchello, Antonio Porta, and others. After the appearance of Hilarotragoedia in 1964, he went on to publish a remarkable series of books novels, essays, commentaries, anatomies, travel books, and short stories in addition to becoming known to the general public as a prolific reviewer and commentator for newspapers and magazines. Centuria appeared in 1979 and was awarded that year's Viareggio Prize, generally held to be Italy's most prestigious literary award. His works have appeared in French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Greek, Polish, Bohemian, Serbo-Croatian, and Hungarian. Centuria after our publication in 1990 of All the Errors is his second book to appear in English translation. <P>Henry Martin is editor and principle translator of McPherson & Company s Italian fiction program. Born in Philadelphia in 1942, he has lived for many years in the Italian Alps. A noted art critic as well, his writings have appeared in many publications. Among his many books are two innovative and popular collaborations with Gianfranco Baruchello, How to Imagine and Why Duchamp, published by Documentext/McPherson.

From the Back Cover

Voyage is at the heart of all narrative, and in the seven thoroughly original tales comprising this book the voyages are heightened into a condition of metaphysical urgency. One story is the valedictory address of a soul about to be born. Another tale tells of a labyrinth that seeks to describe its own pathways. Forming another, two monologues are interlaced, tracing the disavowals of love between a man and a woman. The principal characters of another story are Fires, Essences, Lights, Places, Edified Beasts, Centers, Thrones, Thunders, and Rings"€"and this cosmology of abstractions is brought into an almost palpable presence. In still another fable the narrator journeys on foot with an unknown itinerary, propelled through an unchanging landscape awash with deja vu. Far more than the sum of its parts, this challenging work was also Giorgio Manganelli's long-awaited English language debut.

Reviews

This is the first English translation of work by Manganelli, a well-known Italian author and critic, proponent of the neo-avant-garde. He sees literature as language only, an artificial construction and a mental game. His material is fragments of our consciousness and experience; he writes probing analyses of states of mind and relationship in showy, artful language. Only two of the book's seven monologs are understandable: the first, about a soul being born, and the last, a hauntingly beautiful tale about a betrothal. The rest are supercerebral and accessible only to the experts. Recommended for large literature collections in academic libraries.
- Ulla Sweedler, Univ. of Cali fornia-San Diego Lib.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: McPherson
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0929701062
• ISBN 13: 9780929701066
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 158