Love in Vain: Selected Stories

by Federigo Tozzi, Minna Proctor (translator)

Love in Selected Stories of Federigo Tozzi is the debut short-story collection in English of one of Italy's most distinguished early modern writers. The twenty stories of Love in Vain were selected and translated by Minna Proctor, who received the 1998 PEN/Renato Poggioli Award for her then unpublished renderings of Tozzi's fiction. "The investigation of naturalism, of truth," writes Proctor in her biographical introduction, "defined Tozzi's poetics. Impassioned by literature, yet isolated from the mainstream, Tozzi found nothing so fascinating as the unfettered expression of the inner lives of normal people." His work is at once a mixture of subtlety and melodrama, of psychological perception, primitive emotion, and raw physical need, as his plain subjects, yearning for connection and love, forever grasp at the unattainable.

Genres: Short Stories, Italy, Italian Literature

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Federigo Tozzi was the son of an innkeeper. He first worked as a railway official, then took over running his father's inn. In 1911 he published his first book of poetry. In 1913 he began to work on his first novel, Con gli occhi chiusi ("With closed eyes"), a highly autobiographical text. In this year, he also founded the magazine La Torre. Tozzi then became a journalist in Rome. Through his literary activity, he caught the attention of the writer Luigi Pirandello, who subsequently supported him. Tozzi died 1920 in Rome of influenza and pneumonia.

Reviews

[Prince Jhonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life sketches in charcoal and ember

[Anna Suh · Rating 4 out of 5]

a short story book that I actually enjoyed... gifted by chegg… books about love🚬

[Stefanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2