Il quinto evangelio (The Fifth Gospel, 1975), the work that marks Mario Pomilio's maturity as an artist, defines his lifelong experience as a man, as a writer, and as a Catholic. It is also one of the books that defines Italian literature of the twentieth century, for it attests to the clash between the existential and the metaphysical, the modern and the traditional, the malaise of a society bent on self-destruction and the yearning of the individual for salvation. It depicts the final, tremendous encounter between God and man. Since his first novel Pomilio's themes have remained constant. His work reflects the influence of other writers, including Alessandro Manzoni, Luigi Pirandello, Giovanni Verga, Ignazio Silone, and Gabriele D'Annunzio. One can even hear echoes of Elio Vittorini, Georges Bernanos, and Leonardo Sciascia. As a creative writer Pomilio received immediate critical attention, but his readers were confined to those who were...