SOURCE: "The Hoax': Svevo on Art and Reality," in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. X, No. 3, Summer, 1973, pp. 263-69.

In the following essay, Bondanella argues that "The Hoax" illustrates why Svevo should be considered a forerunner of the Italian absurd.

Though there is no longer any need to introduce Italo Svevo's major novels to informed audiences in Europe or America, few scholars have examined his short fiction in detail. What criticism does exist on the minor works often emphasizes them as autobiographical documents; and while a biographical approach to Svevo's works is often fruitful, such an approach obscures the importance of the minor works in the development of Svevo's thought. Many contemporary critics choose to read Svevo's novels as a reflection of a deep sociological crisis in twentieth-century European society. Hence, the importance of these short works is often overlooked because they do not always fit into the...