Cesare Pavese and America : Life, Love, and Literature

When he committed suicide at age forty-one, Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) was one of Italy's best-known writers. A poet, novelist, literary critic, and translator, he had been profoundly influenced in his early years by American literature. But later he grew disaffected with American culture, coming to see it as materialistic and shallow. This book, the first full-length English-language study of Pavese in twenty years, examines his life and the evolution of his views of America through a chronological reading of his works. "When he committed suicide at age forty-one, Cesare Pavese (1908-1950) was one of Italy's best-known writers." "This book, the first full-length English-language study of Pavese in twenty years, examines his life and the evolution of his views of America through a chronological reading of his works." "Combining biography and literary analysis, Lawrence G. Smith illuminates Pavese's life and also his tragic death, precipitated by a brief failed love affair with Constance Dowling, an American movie actress fifteen years his junior. Although he barely knew Dowling, her departure from Italy in April 1950 triggered Pavese's long-latent suicidal impulses', and he killed himself four months later."--Jacket Frontmatter Acknowledgments (page ix) Abbreviations (page xiii) "Introducing Cesare Pavese" (page 1) PART I 1. The End Game: Connie and Cesare (page 17) 2. Family and Friends (page 35) 3. Tina (page 57) 4. Einaudi, Fernanda, and World War II (page 86) 5. Liberation? (page 107) PART II 6. "Viva Walt Whitman" (page 135) 7. "The peach of the world" (page 169) 8. "Storia passata" (page 215) Notes (page 249) Suggested Reading (page 279) Illustration Source Credits (page 283) Index (page 285) Lawrence G. Smith. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 249-282) And Index.