Few writers in Italy in the twentieth century rival Cesare Pavese for receiving the uninterrupted and undiminished attention of literary critics and the petulant curiosity of the mass media. Indeed, Pavese, who extensively theorized about myth, has assumed the significance of a myth. He stands at the threshold of the rise of the modern Italian novel and remains one of its most distinctive voices. He demonstrates the possibility of a manner of expression more consonant with the restlessness and the introspection of the age, search for authenticity and refusal to acquiesce in perceived certainties. His narrative work, which spans only the decade of the 1940s, has lost little of its cogency and none of its interest.

Cesare Pavese was born on 9 September 1908 in Santo Stefano Belbo, in that region of southern Piedmont called "le Langhe." The area is known for its wine and, according to Pavese's depiction, its...