Long hailed as a seminal work of modernism in the tradition of Joyce and Kafka, and now available in a supple new English translation, Italo Svevo’s charming and splendidly idiosyncratic novel conducts readers deep into one hilariously hyperactive and endlessly self-deluding mind. The mind in question belongs to Zeno Cosini, a neurotic Italian businessman who is writing his confessions at the behest of his psychiatrist. Here are Zeno’s interminable attempts to quit smoking, his courtship of the beautiful yet unresponsive Ada, his unexpected–and unexpectedly happy–marriage to Ada’s homely sister Augusta, and his affair with a shrill-voiced aspiring singer. Relating these misadventures with wry wit and a perspicacity at once unblinking and compassionate, Zeno’s Conscience is a miracle of psychological realism.
- ISBN10 0375727760
- ISBN13 9780375727764
- Publish Date 4 February 2003 (first published 28 September 2001)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 25 August 2014
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Random House USA Inc
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 464
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780375727764