'Exquisite. . . a classic tour de force' The New York Times

'It struggled to keep itself aloft, to gain height. But then it suddenly gave up, and dropped as though it were breaking into many pieces'

Early on a cold Sunday morning, forty-five-year-old Edgardo Limentani gets up to join a shooting party in the countryside surrounding the town of Ferrara. As the day passes, he contemplates his past, his disappointments and how he has got here. Like the birds he shoots, he realizes, he is trapped, broken, waiting alone for the final coup de grace. Then he sees a way out.

The fifth book in Bassani's Novel of Ferrara sequence, and his final novel, The Heron is a taut, poignant portrait of a middle-aged man's reckoning with his life.

A new translation of Bassani's haunting last novel- a portrait of a middle-aged man's reckoning with life and loneliness.

About the Author
Giorgio Bassani (Author)
Giorgio Bassani was born in 1916. From 1938 onwards he became involved in various anti-fascist activities for which he was imprisoned in 1943. His works include The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles, and Five Stories of Ferrara (Within the Walls), which won the Strega Prize. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis was awarded the Viareggio Prize in 1962 and was made into a feature film.



Reviews
Exquisite. . . a classic tour de force that will be around for a long time * The New York Times *
Giorgio Bassani is one of the great witnesses of this century, and one of its great artists * Guardian *
Powerful new translations . . . Bassani began as a poet, and McKendrick's redelivery of this taut uncompromising fiction reveals resonance and generosity -- Ali Smith
Bassani's masterpiece * The New York Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780141192147
Author Giorgio Bassani
Format Paperback
Page Count 144
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 112g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 8mm