Invisible Cities

Fifty-five fictional cities, each described in beautiful detail - each with a woman's name... In Invisible Cities Marco Polo conjures up cities of magical times for his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, but gradually it becomes clear that he is actually describing one city: Venice. As Gore Vidal wrote 'Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvellous invention like Invisible Cities , perfectly irrelevant.' This is a captivating meditation on culture, language, time, memory and the nature of human experience. ' Invisible Cities changed the way we read and what is possible in the balance between poetry and prose... The book I would choose as pillow and plate, alone on a desert island' Jeanette Winterson 'Touches inexhaustibly on the essence of the human urge to create cities, be in cities, speak of cities' Guardian 'A subtle and beautiful meditation' Sunday Times

Fifty-five fictional cities, each described in beautiful detail - each with a woman's name... In Invisible Cities Marco Polo conjures up cities of magical times for his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, but gradually it becomes clear that he is actually describing one city: Venice. As Gore Vidal wrote 'Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvellous invention like Invisible Cities , perfectly irrelevant.' This is a captivating meditation on culture, language, time, memory and the nature of human experience. ' Invisible Cities changed the way we read and what is possible in the balance between poetry and prose... The book I would choose as pillow and plate, alone on a desert island' Jeanette Winterson 'Touches inexhaustibly on the essence of the human urge to create cities, be in cities, speak of cities' Guardian 'A subtle and beautiful meditation' Sunday Times

In Invisible Cities Marco Polo conjures up cities of magical times for his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, but gradually it becomes clear that he is actually describing one city: Venice. As Gore Vidal wrote 'Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvellous invention like Invisible Cities, perfectly irrelevant.'

Fifty-five fictional cities, each described in beautiful detail - each with a woman's name... In Invisible Cities Marco Polo conjures up cities of magical times for his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, but gradually it becomes clear that he is actually describing one city: Venice. As Gore Vidal wrote 'Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvellous invention like Invisible Cities , perfectly irrelevant.' This is a captivating meditation on culture, language, time, memory and the nature of human experience. ' Invisible Cities changed the way we read and what is possible in the balance between poetry and prose... The book I would choose as pillow and plate, alone on a desert island' Jeanette Winterson 'Touches inexhaustibly on the essence of the human urge to create cities, be in cities, speak of cities' Guardian 'A subtle and beautiful meditation' Sunday Times

As book two opens, Nick Heath, a reporter for a free weekly newspaper has traveled to the east coast in pursuit of some background information about the most recent winner of the Hilton Humanitarian Award. Thirty years have passed since Santo Aretino made a hasty exit from his hometown. Nick revisits many of the people Santo had influenced and found a man dynamically split into fans and foes, friends and enemies, lovers and haters. It continues the journey into the isolated psyche of this enigmatic young man as he continues to find his normal.

Italo Calvino's beloved, intricately crafted novel about an Emperor's travels--a brilliant journey across far-off places and distant memory. "Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else." In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo--Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear.

Italo Calvino's beloved, intricately crafted novel about an Emperor's travels--a brilliant journey across far-off places and distant memory. "Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else." In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo--Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear.