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It's Hard to Talk about Yourself

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"It's Hard to Talk About Yourself" is a transcript (edited) of a series of interviews on RAI (Italian state radio) with Natalia Ginzburg, one of Italy's most esteemed authors--now deceased. It is a potpourri of chatty conversations and intimate questions about the author's methods, background, and career. Various critics and friends pop in and out, a kind of Ralph Edwards' "This is Your life" show. While the happy chat tone of much of it is offputting, there are nuggets of fact to be mined from this book--chiefly from the author herself, who modestly narrates the life she led. This involves her perilous life in Fascist Italy as a Jew and opponent of the regime.
Ginzburg is a modest woman, which matches the simplicity of her literary style and the subjects she has written about: chiefly family life in Italy of her time. Readers acquainted with her novels, such as "All Our Yesterdays" and "The Road to the City" will be eager to learn about how she came about writing them. She avoids any elaborate theories or influences (though Chekhov was her idol), and humbly states that each book was created line by line strictly from inspiration.
For those interested in this great writer, the book is essential reading.