SOURCE: "Alberto Moravia's L'automa: A Study in Estrangement," in Symposium, Vol. XVIII, No. 4, Winter, 1964, pp. 357-64.

In the following essay, Pacifici examines Moravia's effort to dramatize the estranging effect of automation upon individuar s lives in L'automa.

In the fall of 1962 Alberto Moravia's latest work was brought out by Bompiani of Milano. The new volume, aptly titled L'automa, consists of forty-one short stories, all of which were commissioned by the northern daily Il corriere della sera for publication in its third, "literary" page—a fact that must be borne in mind if we are to appreciate the strength and weaknesses of the individual stories. Within a few days after its appearence, the first printing of the book was sold out and a new edition on its way to the book stalls and shops. Judging from such an enthusiastic response, Moravia's popularity with his public continues its steady climb...