{"product_id":"valentino-and-sagittarius-paperback","title":"Valentino and Sagittarius - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNatalia Ginzburg\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eAvril Bardoni\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator), \u003cb\u003eCynthia Zarin\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTwo novellas about family life and fraudsters by one of the twentieth century's best Italian novelists.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eValentino\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSagittarius\u003c\/i\u003e are two of Natalia Ginzburg's most celebrated works: tales of love, hope, and delusion that are full of her characteristic mordant humor, keen psychological insight, and unflinching moral realism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eValentino is the spoiled child of doting parents, who have no doubt that their handsome young son will prove \"a man of consequence.\" Nothing that Valentino does--his nights out on the town, his failed or incomplete classes--suggests there is any ground for that confidence, and Valentino's sisters view their parents and brother with a mixture of bitterness, stoicism, and bemusement. Everything becomes that much more confused when, out of the blue, Valentino finds an enterprising, wealthy, and strikingly ugly wife, who undertakes to support not just him but the whole family. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSagittarius\u003c\/i\u003e is another story of misplaced confidence recounted by a wary daughter, whose mother, a grass widow with time on her hands, moves to the suburbs, eager to find new friends. Brassy, bossy, and perpetually dissatisfied, especially when it comes to her children, she strikes up a friendship with the mysterious Scilla, and soon the two women are planning to open an art gallery. But knowing better than everyone, it turns out, is not that different from knowing nothing at all.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNatalia Ginzburg\u003c\/b\u003e (1916-1991) was born Natalia Levi in Sicily, the daughter of a Jewish biologist father and a Catholic mother. She grew up in Turin, in a household that was a salon for antifascist activists, intellectuals, and artists, and published her first short stories at the age of eighteen; she would go on to become one of the most important and widely taught writers in Italy, taking up the themes of oppression, family, and social change. In 1938, she married Leone Ginzburg, a prominent writer, activist, and editor. In 1940, the fascist government exiled the Ginzburgs and their children to a remote village. After the fall of Mussolini, Leone fled to Rome, where he was arrested by Nazi authorities and tortured to death. Natalia married Gabriele Baldini, an English professor, in 1950, and spent the next three decades in Rome, London, and Turin, writing dozens of novels, plays, and essay. NYRB Classics is the publisher of her novel \u003ci\u003eFamily Lexicon \u003c\/i\u003eand two novellas, \u003ci\u003eValentino and Sagittarius.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAvril Bardoni\u003c\/b\u003e (1936-2017) was a translator of opera libretti and literature, most notably from the Italian. Among the authors whose work she translated were Leonardo Sciascia, Susanna Tamaro, and Romana Petri. In 1986 she was awarded the John Florio Prize for the translation of a work of contemporary Italian literature into English for Sciascia's \u003ci\u003eThe Wine-Dark Sea \u003c\/i\u003e(available as an NYRB Classic). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eCynthia Zarin\u003c\/b\u003e's books include \u003ci\u003eThe Ada Poems\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOrbit\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAn Enlarged Heart: A Personal History\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTwo Cities\u003c\/i\u003e, and several books for children. She teaches at Yale.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 144\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.6 x 8 x 5.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 15, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51769273221408,"sku":"9781681374741","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/3d51c19756fc1d7e4d0daf3ce57c7eb7.webp?v=1780344823","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/valentino-and-sagittarius-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}