Review
"Compellingly whimsical, alienated, pseudo-scientific, bizarre: all these adjectives describe this fiction in the form of a short reference work, the first book admired by Argentinean-Italian novelist Wilcock to be published in English... This book (his best-known in Italy) consists of short essays describing the lives of obsessive eccentrics, some real and some imaginary... Venuti renders Wilcock's Italian into lucid, captivating English, and offers a biographical introduction. (Perfect for) lovers of postmodern mind games." -- Publishers Weekly.
Product Description
Italian author Wilcock (1919-78) wrote many fascinating works -- including poetry, short fiction, novels, literary criticism, drama in verse and prose, and cultural journalism -- but this outstanding translation is the first to appear in English. Using short, encyclopaedic/biographical entries, Wilcock profiles people who are definitely iconoclasts. They tear down traditional beliefs and scientific notions on many different topics, from utopias to biology, offering a riveting array of ideas. Some real people with iconoclastic bents are included along with some bizarre fictional characters.