"The quirkiness and the grace of the writing, the originality of the imagination at work, the incandescence of vision, make this collection well worth reading." —Margaret Atwood

A dazzling early story collection from Italo Calvino about love and the difficulty of communication

In Difficult Loves, Italy’s master storyteller weaves tales in which cherished deceptions and illusions of love—including self-love—are swept away in magical instants of recognition. A soldier is reduced to quivering fear by the presence of a full-figured woman in his train compartment; a young clerk leaves a lady’s bed at dawn; a young woman is isolated from bathers on a beach by the loss of her bikini bottom. Each of them discovers hidden truths beneath the surface of everyday life. Translated by the acclaimed Ann Goldstein (translator of Elena Ferrante's The Neapolitan Quartet) this collection displays Calvino at the start of his prolific career, the groundwork for the