A Perfect Hoax
Published on 22. November 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-84749-775-8 (ISBN)
Description
Travelling salesman Enrico Gaia decides to play a trick on the conceited ageing litterateur Mario Samigli: he dupes him into thinking that a representative of a prestigious Viennese publishing house wants to commission a German translation of a long-forgotten novel Samigli had written and published at his own expense forty years ago. This leads the old man to reach new heights of self-delusion, spurred on by Gaia's succession of ruses.
In this tragicomic study of deception and disappointment, Italo Svevo - who himself was an undiscovered writer until his old age - parodies elements of his own life and offers an insightful psychological portrait of a person who has lost touch with reality.
In this tragicomic study of deception and disappointment, Italo Svevo - who himself was an undiscovered writer until his old age - parodies elements of his own life and offers an insightful psychological portrait of a person who has lost touch with reality.
Reviews / Votes
...a wonderful comedy where the resourcefulness of the vain and creative mind is aided by a variety of unlikely circumstances in its desperate effort to reconstruct self-esteem and serenity -- Tim ParksMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Richmond
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Alma Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
130 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84749-775-8 (9781847497758)
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Other editions
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Persons
Born in Trieste to a Jewish German father and an Italian mother, Italo Svevo (1861-1928) worked for his father-in-law's paint business for most of his life and was unknown as a writer until the 1923 publication of Zeno's Conscience, which is now considered a classic of Italian fiction.