One of the most articulate and influential writers of his generation, Sebastiano Vassalli endured twenty years in literary limbo before achieving widespread critical success in 1990 with La chimera (translated as The Chimera, 1993). No stranger to controversy, the outspoken Vassalli refused to conform to the expectations of the editorial and academic establishments. Indeed, if his predilection for protagonists trapped in perilous moments in history are any indication, he has probably derived inspiration from his position as a black sheep of the Italian literary world. He belongs to the generazione di mezzo (middle generation), those writers caught in time between the so-called death of Italian literature in the late 1960s and its tentative rebirth in the late 1980s.

Despite their critical dismissal, Vassalli's early works, born of the rebellious 1960s and designed to accentuate a split with traditional narrative, define the emotions and frustrations of a defiant generation. He and...