Clandestinity

By William D. Smith

In this four-story suite, a modern master of Italian literature delves into the wonder and strangeness of the human condition.

Eerie, fabulist, and elegant, each of Moresco's stories features a central character at a different time of his life: childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. In these beautiful and unsettling narratives, a dreamlike logic governs a vivid and strange physical world. In "Blue Room," the adolescent protagonist carries on a voyeuristic relationship with a blind old woman in a mysterious house. In "The Hole," a young boy becomes fascinated by an outhouse toilet, a portal through which he observes bodily wastes, curiosities, and portents. In the title story, an act of violence deepens the nightmarish tones and mood of disorientation. And in "The King," a child narrator--who may or may not be present--witnesses a horrific visit from an exiled ruler.

Full of bodily parts, functions, and desires, Moresco's stories distort time and reality to summon a world of carnal immediacy and uncanny haziness. A spectral and unnerving work of art, expertly translated by Richard Dixon, Clandestinity is a testament to Moresco's genius.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1646051726
• ISBN13: 9781646051724
• Release Date: May 2022
• Publisher: Deep Vellum Publishing
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 8.0"