Leonardo Sciascia was an outstanding and controversial presence in twentieth-century Italian literary and intellectual life.
Writing about his native Sicily and its culture of secrecy and suspicion, Sciascia matched sympathy with skepticism, unflinching intelligence with a streetfighter's intransigent poise.
Sciascia was particularly admired for his short stories, and The Wine-Dark Sea offers what he considered his best work in the genre: thirteen spare and trenchant miniatures that range in subject from village idiots to mafia dons, marital spats to American dreams.
Here, in unforgettable form, Sciascia examines the contradictions--sometimes comic, sometimes deadly, and sometimes both--of Sicily's turbulent history and day-to-day life.
About the Author: Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) was born in Racamulto, Sicily.
Starting in the 1950s, he established himself in Italy as a novelist and essayist, and also as a controversial commentator on political affairs.
Among his many other books are Salt on the Wound, a biography of a Sicilian town, The Council of Egypt, an historical novel, and Todo Modo, a book in a genre that Sciascia could be said to have invented: the metaphysical mystery.
Albert Mobilio is a poet and critic.
His books of poetry include Bendable Siege and The Geographics , and his criticism has appeared in Harper's , The New York Times Book Review , and The Village Voice .
In 1999 he won the National Book Critics Circle award for excellence in reviewing.
He teaches at The New School.
| Genre | Thirteen spare and trenchant miniatures that range in subject from village idiots to mafia dons marital spats to |
|---|---|
| Author | Leonardo |
| Sciascia could be said to have invented | The metaphysical mystery |
