{"product_id":"zenos-conscience-isbn-9780375727764","title":"Zeno's Conscience","description":"Long hailed as a seminal work of modernism in the tradition of Joyce and Kafka, and now available in a supple new English translation, Italo Svevo’s charming and splendidly idiosyncratic novel conducts readers deep into one hilariously hyperactive and endlessly self-deluding mind.  The mind in question belongs to Zeno Cosini, a neurotic Italian businessman who is writing his confessions at the behest of his psychiatrist. Here are Zeno’s interminable attempts to quit smoking, his courtship of the beautiful yet unresponsive Ada, his unexpected–and unexpectedly happy–marriage to Ada’s homely sister Augusta, and his affair with a shrill-voiced aspiring singer. Relating these misadventures with wry wit and a perspicacity at once unblinking and compassionate, \u003cb\u003eZeno’s Conscience\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eis a miracle of psychological realism.“Svevo’s masterpiece . . . [in] a fresh translation by the dean of Italian literary translators.” –\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An excellent new rendering [of a] marvellous and original book.”–James Wood, \u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A masterpiece, a novel overflowing with human truth in all its murkiness, laughter and terror, a book as striking and relevant today as when it was first published, and a book that is in every good way–its originality included–like life.” –Claire Messud, \u003ci\u003eThe New Republic\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hilarious. . . . Effortlessly inventive and eerily prescient. . . . William Weaver . . . updates the novelist’s idiosyncratic prose with great affection.” –\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic Monthly\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An event in modern publishing. For the first time, I believe, in English, we get the true, dark music, the pewter tints, of Svevo’s great last novel. . . . [Svevo is] a master.” –Joan Acocella, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[An] exhilarating and utterly original novel. . . . Weaver’s version strikes one as excellent.” –P. N. Furbank, \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“One of the great comic novels of the twentieth century. . . . [Svevo is] perhaps \u003ci\u003ethe \u003c\/i\u003emost significant Italian modernist novelist.” –\u003ci\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] neglected masterpiece. Seventy-five years old, the novel feels entirely modern.” –\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A reason for celebration. . . . If you have never read Svevo, do so as soon as you can. He is beautiful and important.” –\u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“One of the indispensable 20th-century novels. . . . A revolutionary book, and arguably (in fact, probably) the finest of all Italian novels.” –\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“No one has done more to make modern Italian literature available in English than William Weaver. . . . [His new translation is] scrupulously accurate.” –\u003ci\u003eAnniston Star\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eItalo Svevo, whose real name was Ettore Schmitz, was born in Trieste in 1861. He was educated in Trieste and in a commercial school in Germany and returned to his birthplace to begin a business career that he pursued successfully until his death. He published three novels (at his own expense): \u003cb\u003eUna vita\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e(1892; English translation: \u003cb\u003eA Life\u003c\/b\u003e), \u003cb\u003eSenilità\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e(1898; English translation: \u003cb\u003eEmilio’s Carnival\u003c\/b\u003e;\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ealso translated under the title \u003cb\u003eAs a Man Grows Older\u003c\/b\u003e), and \u003cb\u003eLa coscienza di Zeno\u003c\/b\u003e (1923; English translation: \u003cb\u003eZeno’s Conscience\u003c\/b\u003e;\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ealso translated under the title \u003cb\u003eConfessions of Zeno\u003c\/b\u003e). After his first two novels were ignored, Svevo considered giving up writing and devoting himself full-time to business. Aiming to improve his English, he fell under the tutelage of James Joyce, twenty years his junior. Svevo read early portions of \u003cb\u003eDubliners\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e and Joyce read Svevo’s two novels and encouraged him to take up writing again. When Svevo completed \u003cb\u003eZeno’s Conscience\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e Joyce arranged to have it published in France, where Svevo was dubbed “the Italian Proust.” He soon emerged from obscurity in Italy, and his rank as a major writer was already established when he died in a car accident in 1928.A Novel","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304227852517,"sku":"NP9780375727764","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780375727764.jpg?v=1767744877","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/zenos-conscience-isbn-9780375727764","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}