Calendar

Thirteen stories. Thirteen fragments of life. Love stories. Meetings – real or perhaps invented by the author – with some of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.

In the story that gives this collection its title, a biology teacher from Johannesburg looks back on his family life. The central theme is a significant paradox: while once upon a time, at least a drop of white blood in the veins was everyone’s dream, the opposite is now true: at least one-sixteenth of black blood is recommended – and considered almost as an indication of social standing.
With a sure hand, Gordimer delves into the cracks in our sentiments and our personal relationships: via the senses (hearing, smell, etc.) the various characters discover that their partners have been unfaithful.
In her description of a meeting in a Chinese restaurant in New York with Edward Said, Susan Sontag and Anthony Sampson, Nadine Gordimer addresses the problems in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and the Condition of Women: thirteen short but intense masterpieces.

Itala Vivan
is Professor of Cultural and Post-Colonial Studies at the University of Milan. She has helped to bring to the attention of the Italian public the most talented African and Caribbean English- and French-language writers, coordinating the publication of novels, poetry and collections of short stories for many of Italy’s leading publishing houses, including Baldini Castoldi Dalai, Adelphi, Giunti, Feltrinelli and Rizzoli. Her latest book is Corpi liberati in cerca di storia, di storie, Il Nuovo Sudafrica dieci anni dopo l’apartheid, Milan, Baldini Castoldi Dalai.