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Hermit in Paris: Autobiographical Writings

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This book is for readers who already know and appreciate Italo Calvino's major works of fiction. The center piece of this collection of interviews and memoirs is Calvino's notes on his 1959-1960 trip to the United States. The culture shock and fascination/irritation are especially absorbing to those who have been to the places Calvino visited and share Calvino's interests in literature and culture. These reminiscences are also interesting in the context of earlier Italian observers such as Ferruccio Busoni (concert tours 1892-1915) and Giorgio de Chirico (essay about New York in the 1930s).

I first read "If on a Winter's Night a Traveler" by Italo Calvino and was hooked. Many years later, I had not forgotten this charming book, so when I was strolling in the bookstore and saw "A Hermit in Paris," I knew I had to get it. This is a collection of Calvino's writings collected after his death by his wife. There is some repetition among the writings, but the lyrical gems that await you in this autobiographical collection are worth wading through some similar pieces.

Most engaging are his writings from his travels to the US in 1959-60 while on a grant from the Ford Foundation. As he notes in the book, although he is Italian, and lived a long stretch in Paris to write, at heart he is a citizen of New York. His take on the US is so fresh and engaging, it's sure to be your favorite section. He's surely the 20th century Italian version of de Toqueville, showing Americans new ways to look at themselves.

However, there's a lot more there, including his tales of Resistance fighting against Mussolini in World War II, his work with an Italian publishing house, and his disenchantment with the Italian Communist Party, which he eventually left. This is a man that not only is a wonderful writer, but led a very colorful life, and these writings capture just a hint of what that life was composed of. This is a fascinating book, and not just for those of us who love Calvino's writing.

Calvino is a wonderful writer and a genuine original, someone I've always loved to re-read, year after year. But prepare for a shock with "Hermit in Paris": he's almost a caricature of the rude, snotty, anti-american Leftist who finds "95% of America is a country of ugliness, oppressiveness and sameness, in short of relentless monotony." He meets James Purdy and describes him as "pathetic" (why?)

"American Diary" is a tour of the USA through the lens of an Italian Communist. He describes American housing projects as "prisons built of brick" and "terrifyingly anonymous" -- and while few would disagree, they remain positively cheerful (not to mention well-made) when compared to the European model. Exhibit A: East Berlin. When it comes to sheer cement horror and ugliness, no one can outdo the communists of Europe. Painting raw cement electric pink and mint green definitely doesn't help alleviate the hideousness of it all. A more squalid region of the world would be impossible to find.

European Communists are amazing to me, they have Yugoslavia, Poland, East Germany - it's right there, right next door! You can drive there in a few hours. They never mention it. They pretend it isn't there.