Cesare Pavese
Biography
Cesare Pavese was born in Santo Stefano Belbo in the Piedmont region of Italy in 1908. His father was a court clerk, who died when Pavese was six years old. Pavese took an interest in literature at school and studied it when he went to the University of Turin. He wrote his dissertation on Walt Whitman and translated several American authors into Italian. He joined the Fascist party, as it was a requirement for getting a teaching job but later joined a left-wing group for which he was arrested and sentenced to house arrest, though the real reason for the arrest were because he had letters addressed to a Communist, the woman he loved. His break-up with her caused the bitterness towards women we find in his novels. He started publishing, first of all poetry and translations of American literature and, later, fiction. He also worked as an editor for the prestigious Italian publishers, Einaudi. In 1942 he was called up to the Italian army but, because of his asthma, did not serve. After the war he joined the Communist party and was very critical of the United States and capitalism. He continued to have much success, both at home and abroad but he was suffering from depression and killed himself in 1950, partially as a result of a failed love affair. He is still considered one of the foremost Italian writers of the twentieth century and La luna e i falò (The Moon and the Bonfire; The Moon and the Bonfires) as one of the foremost works of that period.
Books about Cesare Pavese
Davide Lajolo: Absurd Vice: A Biography of Cesare Pavese
Other links
Cesare Pavese
Pavese, Cesare 1908-1950
Cesare Pavese (in Italian)
Cesare Pavese (in Italian)
Cesare Pavese (in Italian)
Cesare Pavese (1908-1950) (in Italian)
Fondazione Cesare Pavese (in Italian)
Bibliography
1936 Lavorare stanca (Hard Labor) (poetry)
1941 La spiaggia (The Beach) (novel)
1941 Paesi tuoi (The Harvesters) (novel)
1946 Feria d’agosto (Summer Storm and Other Stories) (stories and poetry)
1947 Dialoghi con Leucò (Dialogues with Leuco) (stories in the form of conversations)
1947 Il compagno (The Comrade) (novel)
1949 Il carcere (The Political Prisoner) (in Prima che il gallo canti)
1949 Il diavolo sulle colline (The Devil in the Hills) (in La bella estate)
1949 La bella estate (The Beautiful Summer)
1949 La casa in collina (The House on the Hill) (in Prima che il gallo canti)
1949 Tra donne sole (Among Women Only) (in La bella estate)
1950 La luna e i falò (The Moon and the Bonfire; The Moon and the Bonfires) (novel)
1951 La letteratura americana e altri saggi, saggi e articoli 1930-1950 (American Literature: Essays and Opinions) (criticism)
1951 Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi (poetry)
1952 Il mestiere di vivere. Diario 1935-1950
1953 Notte di festa (Festival Night and Other Stories) (stories)
1956 Lettere 1924-1944
1959 Fuoco grande (The Beach) (with Bianca Garufi)
1960 Racconti (Told in Confidence and Other Stories)
1962 Poesie edite e inedite (poetry)
1964 Otto poesie inedite e quattro lettere a un’amica (1928-1929) (poetry)
1966 Lettere 1945-1950
1966 Vita attraverso le lettere,
1968 Ciau Masino (stories)
1969 A Mania for Solitude: Selected Poems, 1930-1950
1973 Poesie del disamore e altre poesie disperse (poetry)
1980 The Leather Jacket: Stories
1989 Poesie giovanili
1990 Il mestiere di vivere. Diario 1935-1950 (This Business of Living : Diaries 1935-1950)
1991 La Collana Viola: Lettere 1945-1950
1993 Lotte di Giovani e Altri Racconti
2002 Disaffections: Complete Poems, 1930-1950
2006 Interpretazione della poesia di Walt Whitman: tesi di laurea, 1930
2008 Dodici giorni al mare
2008 Officina Einaudi – Lettere editoriali 1940-1950
2009 Il serpente e la colomba: scritti e soggetti cinematografici
2010 Il quaderno del confino
2021 La scoperta dell’America