關於生平，卡爾維諾寫道：“我仍然屬於和剋羅齊一樣的人，認為一個作者，隻有作品有價值。因此我不提供傳記資料。我會告訴你你想知道的東西。但我從來不會告訴你真實。”

1923年10月15日生於古巴，1985年9月19日在濱海彆墅猝然離世，而與當年的諾貝爾文學奬失之交臂。

父母都是熱帶植物學傢，“我的傢庭中隻有科學研究是受尊重的。我是敗類，是傢裏唯一從事文學的人。”

少年時光裏寫滿書本、漫畫、電影。他夢想成為戲劇傢，高中畢業後卻進入大學農藝係，隨後從文學院畢業。

1947年齣版第一部小說《通嚮蜘蛛巢的小徑》，從此緻力於開發小說敘述藝術的無限可能。

曾隱居巴黎15年，與列維—施特勞斯、羅蘭·巴特、格諾等人交往密切。

1985年夏天準備哈佛講學時患病。主刀醫生錶示自己未曾見過任何大腦構造像卡爾維諾的那般復雜精緻。

Never before published in English, these essayistic writings enlarge our understanding of one of the twentieth centrury's most beloved authors.

In evocations of Italo Calvino's tumultuous teenage years--his life during Mussolini's rule, at the time of the liberation, and during the Cold War--we learn the story of the author's generation as it confronted moral, civil, and artistic dilemmas. In writings from the extended periods during which Calvino lived alone in Paris and New York, we witness his struggle to find "the right distance between being involved and being detached." In "American Diary" he recounts his peregrinations throughout the United States in 1959 and 1960: from New York to Texas, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Savannah, and Charleston. He describes his bafflement with heretofore unimaginable technology, his fascination with the Beats, his horror at the squalor of the suburbs, the inspiration he derived from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words and actions, his impressions of myriad aspects of American culture.

Filled with the author's characteristic insight, intelligence, and brio, Hermit in Paris will take its place alongside Italo Calvino's seminal works.