Why did I love this book?
After experiencing hypnotherapy, I had the idea of employing a similar technique in my novel; in other words of addressing the reader directly and including them in the narrative (e.g. ‘You fly up into the air…’). It reminded me of choose-your-own-adventure books I enjoyed as a kid. I then wondered whether other authors had used a similar technique, which is how I discovered Italo Calvino’s If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller. It’s twisty, it’s turny, it’s mischievous, and unique.
5 authors picked If On A Winter's Night A Traveler as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel...Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." —from If On A Winter's Night a Traveler
Italo Calvino's stunning classic imagines a novel capable of endless possibilities in an intricately crafted, spellbinding story about writing and reading.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a feat of striking ingenuity and intelligence, exploring how our reading choices can shape and transform our lives. Originally published in 1979, Italo Calvino's singular novel crafted a postmodern narrative like never seen before—offering not one novel but ten, each with a…