About “The professor and the siren”
In the last two years of his life, Sicilian aristocrat Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote three short stories that highlight his late-blooming talent. "Joy and the Law" follows a clerk who receives an oversized Christmas bonus, disrupting his plans for a peaceful holiday. "The Professor and the Siren" centers on Professor La Ciura, a Hellenist who claims to have learned ancient Greek from a sea creature. The collection ends with "The Blind Kittens," the last story he completed. Originally meant to be the first chapter of a follow-up to The Leopard, it was meant to explore the rise of a new agrarian ruling class in Sicily. A new translation of his short fiction offers updated and corrected versions of previously published works.
Praise for “The professor and the siren”
“An enigmatic, tantalizing and haunting tale of rare beauty which glints like a finely cut diamond...it crackles with erotic tension.”
“Lampedusa has made me realize how many ways there are of being alive.... ‘The Professor and the Siren’ is an exquisite fantasy and a sustained one.”
“‘The Professor and the Siren’ seems to me a masterpiece.”
Book details
- Latest edition
- 2014 · ISBN 9781590177198
- ISBN
- 9781590177198
Frequently asked questions
How many pages is The professor and the siren?
The professor and the siren by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa has 69 pages.
More by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Book descriptions, author biographies, award records and review quotes on this page are courtesy of Penguin Random House.