A Fictional Inquiry by Daniele Del Giudice, translated by Anne Milano Appel

Apr 15 2026 | 4:30 - 5:45pm

Presenter/Author

Chiara Benetollo, Alessandro Giammei, and Iuri Moscardi

Event Location

1133 Broadway

Rizzoli Bookstore is delighted to partner with the Bridge Book Award to host a conversation with Chiara Benetollo (Center for Educational Justice), Alessandro Giammei (Yale University), and Iuri Moscardi (The Graduate Center, CUNY), in celebration of the first English translation of the championed Italian novel, A Fictional Inquiry by Daniele Del Giudice, translated by Anne Milano Appel. The novel is a mysterious story of a narrator tracing the life of a long dead writer, bringing to light the sublime connection between literature and life. The conversation will be followed by a signing.

This particular event is a part of the NYC Art and Craft in Translation Meetings and Dialogues on Literary Translation festival from April 13th to 15th — a three-day program, curated by Maria Ida Gaeta, with organizational support of Cathe Giffuni, Maria Gliozzi, Maria Letizia Rossi, and the collaboration of the representatives of the Institutions and Universities hosting the events, including the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, FUIS (Federazione Unitaria Italiana Scrittori), the CUNY Graduate Center, Hunter College — CUNY, Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò at NYU, Hunter College, the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute at Queens College, and Rizzoli Bookstore.

Art and Craft in Translation was created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Bridge Book Award (which over the course of its 10 editions has promoted 200 titles and as many authors, financing the translation of 40 books from Italian into English and vice versa) and to continue the reflections developed within the Festival “Multipli Forti — Voices from Contemporary Italian Literature” (which in its recent editions has presented more than 60 authors with their unpublished works to the New York public).

Ticket URL

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-fictional-inquiry-by-daniele-del-giudice-translated-by-anne-milano-appel-tickets-1985737875440?aff=oddtdtcreator

Ticketed Event

Fictional Inquiry

Price

$17.95

Available In Stock

"A metaphysical detective story and a modern Italian classic. A strange and ambiguous novel and a brilliant meditation on the mysteries that inform literature."--Mark Haber, author of Saint Sebastian's Abyss and Reinhardt's Garden

This haunting novel was championed by acclaimed Italian author Italo Calvino who called it a "very simple book, straightforward to read, but at the same time possessing great depth and extraordinary quality." First published in 1983 and never before translated into English, A Fictional Inquiry tells of an unnamed narrator visiting Trieste and London to retrace the footsteps of a fabled literary figure. The narrator is intrigued by the elusive, long dead man of letters whose career proved decisive to the culture of his native Italy despite his apparently never having written a line. There are encounters with those who once loved him, walks along the streets he frequented, and visits to his favored cafés, bookstores, and a library in search of an answer. Why did he leave no written trace? In the end, as Italo Calvino wrote when this book originally appeared in Italian, who the legendary author manqué actually was is beside the point. What really matters are the questions and the disquiet running through these luminous pages, the dialectic between literature and life playing out just below the surface. A Fictional Inquiry--which includes notes from both Calvino and translator Anne Milano Appel--is a gem of unparalleled writing appearing in English for the first time.

Fictional Inquiry

$17.95

Available In Stock

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