The Quality of Light

'The quality of light is a quality of intelligence. But it is an intelligence that discovers that it has recourse only to language, more specifically only to writing. The meaning ... is forthcoming only in the writing, and it comes naturally to speak of these fictions, in very many cases, as possessing their own luminosity, their own glow.' (from the editors' introduction) Italy is known for 'opera, olive oil and the Mafia'. It is also a country with a famous literary tradition that stretches back to Dante and Ariosto. The Quality of Light gives a scintillating taste of the range and richness of Italian writing today. Its many discoveries will whet the reader's appetite for more.