If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel...Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." —from If On A Winter's Night a Traveler Italo Calvino's stunning classic imagines a novel capable of endless possibilities in an intricately crafted, spellbinding story about writing and reading. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a feat of striking ingenuity and intelligence, exploring how our reading choices can shape and transform our lives. Originally published in 1979, Italo Calvino's singular novel crafted a postmodern narrative like never seen before—offering not one novel but ten, each with a different plot, style, ambience, and author, and each interrupted at a moment of suspense. Together, the stories form a labyrinth of literature known and unknown, alive and extinct, through which two readers pursue the story lines that intrigue them and try to read each other. Deeply profound and surprisingly romantic, this classic is a beautiful meditation on the transformative power of reading and the ways we make meaning in our lives.
Where If on a Winter's Night a Traveler keeps showing up
One of our editors' lists features this novel.
Also by Italo Calvino
Books in conversation with If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
A few of the closest reads from our full list.
What you might want to know about If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
You, the reader, sit down to read Italo Calvino's new novel. The book is misprinted. You go looking for a complete copy. What follows is a chase through ten different unfinished books and the readers reading them.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a famously experimental novel about reading itself. The chapters alternate between a frame story addressed to you, the reader, and the opening chapters of ten different unfinished novels. Most readers either fall in love with the structure or set the book aside.
Yes. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler won the 1981 Italian PEN Prize and is widely considered Italo Calvino's most ambitious novel. It is one of the most-cited postmodern novels of the 20th century.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler was written by Italo Calvino, published in 1979 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is 260 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a standalone novel by Italo Calvino, not part of a series.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
