{"product_id":"this-business-of-living-diaries-1935-1950-9781412810197","title":"This Business of Living: Diaries 1935-1950","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn June 23rd, 1950, Pavese, Italy's greatest modern writer received the coveted Strega Award for his novel \u003cem\u003eAmong Women Only\u003c\/em\u003e. On August 26th, in a small hotel in his home town of Turin, he took his own life. Shortly before his death, he methodically destroyed all his private papers. His diary is all that remains and for this the contemporary reader can be grateful.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eContemporary speculation attributed this tragedy to either an unhappy love aff air with the American film star Constance Dawling or his growing disillusionment with the Italian Communist Party. His Diaries, however, reveal a man whose art was his only means of repressing the specter of suicide which had haunted him since childhood: an obsession that finally overwhelmed him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs John Taylor notes, he possessed something much more precious than a political theory: a natural sensitivity to the plight and dignity of common people, be they bums, priests, grape-pickers, gas station attendants, office workers, or anonymous girls picked up on the street (though to women, the author could--as he admitted--be as misogynous as he was affectionate). Bitter and incisive, \u003cem\u003eThis Business of Living, \u003c\/em\u003e is both moving and painful to read and stands with James Joyce's Letters and Andre Gide's \u003cem\u003eJournals\u003c\/em\u003e as one of the great literary testaments of the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePavese, Cesare:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e Cesare Pavese (1908-1950), was educated in Turin. In 1930 he began to contribute essays on American literature to \u003cem\u003eLa Cultura\u003c\/em\u003e, of which he later became editor. In 1935 he was imprisoned for anti-fascist activities. This experience formed the basis of \u003cem\u003eThe Political Prisoner\u003c\/em\u003e. Between 1936 and 1940 nine of his books were published in Italy, these included novels, short stories, poetry, and essays. His books have been filmed and dramatized, and translated into many languages.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Routledge","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50849824735506,"sku":"9781412810197","price":65.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8bc51a9d-e4a5-4ff6-991f-e5a080cfa22f.jpg?v=1737402751","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/this-business-of-living-diaries-1935-1950-9781412810197","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}