This volume, part of the Lectura Boccaccii series organized by the American Boccaccio Association, offers close readings by top scholars of Day Four of the Decameron. As fans of the Decameron know, the Fourth Day opens with an important intervention in which the author defends his project against his critics, which coincides with a significant change in tone as the subject matter turns to stories with unhappy endings. The contributors approach the stories from a variety of perspectives, including the linguistic, philosophical, anthropological, and literary historical. These fresh readings of stories that are nearly seven hundred years old testify to the enduring power of Boccaccio's masterpiece to speak to new audiences and to find compelling relevance even at a great distance from its immediate medieval context.

About the Author

Michael Sherberg is a former president of the American Boccaccio Association, and erstwhile chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Washington University.

Reviews

"In each of these eleven essays, the contributors offer significant innovations and are mindful to integrate the latest scholarly perspectives in their analysis. Traditional readings have [...] been enriched and modernized, with special attention paid to questions of gender and the relation between spaces and plots, making this volume an innovative and essential tool for the study of the fourth day of the Decameron."

- Nicola Esposito, PhD Candidate, University of Notre Dame (Annali d'italianistica) "Reading the book is absolutely recommended for scholars, college students, and all avid readers of the Decameron." - Teresa Nocita, Universita degli Studi dell'Aquila (Speculum)



Book Information
ISBN 9781487507473
Author Michael Sherberg
Format Hardback
Page Count 277
Imprint University of Toronto Press
Publisher University of Toronto Press
Weight(grams) 460g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 157mm * 25mm