Fausto and Anna
New York: Pantheon Books, 1960. 1st American Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. Near Fine / Good. Item #004579
First American edition. Full orange cloth, green lettering to spine. 318 pp. Bruising to spine foot, some rubbing to spine head. A few spots to rear joint. Interior is bright and clean. Dust jacket is lightly soiled, bumped at extremities, short tears to foot of front joint and rear cover at head, damp stain to spine head. This, in the very simple and human terms of the best Italian writing, is a love story and at the same time the story of the crucial experience of a generation. Fausto, a rebellious idealist and intellectual with advanced theories about marriage, religion and politics, meets Anna, a conventionally brought up middle-class girl in search of a husband. Their lives, set against the background of provincial Tuscany, are futile, boring, hemmed in by petty prejudices and smothering families. Their relationship is ultimately ruined by Fausto's obsessive jealousy. Then war breaks out, and Fausto is attracted to the idea of Communism but comes to learn the fundamental inhumanity of the creed. It is the growth of Fausto and, in a different way, the growth of Anna, through their experience of the violence of our time, which is the theme of this book.
Price: $40.00