The Beautiful Summer

An astonishing portrait of an innocent on the verge of discovering the cruelties of love… an inimitable read… there are whispers here of the future work of Elena Ferrante – Elizabeth Strout, from the introduction
One of the few essential novelists of the mid-twentieth century – Susan Sontag
There is never any doubt of Pavese’s talent * The Times *
[Pavese writes books of] extraordinary depth where one never stops finding new levels, new meanings – Italo Calvino
There is something about [Pavese] that is insinuating, haunting and lyrically pervasive * New York Times Book Review *
Cesare Pavese’s cool, contemplative voice was the most important among postwar Italian writers – W. S. DiPiero
Pavese, to me, is a constant source of inspiration – Jhumpa Lahiri
For my trip to Los Angeles, I’m packing Cesare Pavese’s The Beautiful Summer, with an introduction by Elizabeth Strout, a slender account of love in 1930s Italy – Jessie Burton, bestselling author of ‘The Miniaturist’ * Guardian Best Summer Books 2018 *
Reminds one very much of the trajectory of the relationship between two young people at the heart of André Aciman’s Call Me By Your Name * RTE Recommended Summer Reads *
Penguin’s re-release of Cesare Pavese’s The Beautiful Summer (as choice a pick as its title implies) is simply gorgeous * Marie Claire - Best Books to Read This Summer *

Cesare Pavese was born in 1908 in Santo Stefano Belbo, a village in the hills of Piedmont. He worked as a translator (of Melville, Joyce and Faulkner) and as an editor for the publishing house Einaudi Editore, while also publishing his own poetry and a string of successful novels, including The House on the Hill and The Moon and the Bonfires. Never actively anti-Fascist himself, he was nevertheless sent into internal exile in Calabria in 1935 for having aided other subversives. He killed himself in 1950, shortly after receiving Italy’s most prestigious literary prize, the Strega.

Elizabeth Strout is the Pulitzer prize-winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, Oh William!, Amy and Isabelle, Abide With Me, The Burgess Boys, Olive Kitteridge, and Olive, Again. She has been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize. She lives in Maine.

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