TWO STORIES AND A MEMORY

by Giuseppe di Lampedusa ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 26, 1962

In addition to The Leopard.- an autobiographical fragment, a short story, and an opening chapter of an unwritten novel complete di Lampedusa's posthumous legacy, and they are published here along with a ""meditation"" by E.M. Forster (whom di Lampedusa admired mutually) and an extensive, beautifully written biographical ""note"" by Archibald Colquhoun, his flawless translator. Places of My Infancy which was written in 1955 in a mood of subdued, sad retrospect some years after the destruction of his home in Palermo, preserved, for his own personal solace and pleasure, the memories of Casa Lampedusa which he loved with ""utter abandon"" and its country dependency, Santa Margherita (the Donnafugata of The Leopard), the house of many, many rooms, ""happy marvels"", the garden, church and theatre. Those who remember (and who can forget) the backgrounds of his great book and their moldering, baroque splendor will be particularly interested. The short story -- The Professor and The Mermaid -- is a civilized caprice, a fantasy which is full of playful imagination and more prickly satirical connotations. And finally the last chapter introduces the avid, ambitious Ibba family which had their counterpart in the Calogero family of his great book as representatives of the ascendant ""New Rich"" ....Never intended for publication, these three pieces- along with 16 photographs- will be gratifying to some members of his worldwide readership, unknown and unsuspected when he died. It is again ironic to think that the circumstances of the death of di Lampedusa's Prince will also anticipate his own.

Pub Date: Nov. 26, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1962

Categories: FICTION