First published 1985
Baldo roams the narrow streets of Palomar, a drowsy town where ordinary people face extraordinary questions. He watches his neighbors closely, cataloging their quirks and habits while wrestling with his own thoughts about what reality means. Ciccio, a woman in love with someone beautiful but distant, finds herself caught between desire and doubt. Stefania confronts deeper questions about existence itself, searching for meaning in everyday moments. Their lives cross and separate in unexpected ways as each resident discovers that daily life contains more mysteries than answers. The townspeople must face uncomfortable truths about the random, puzzling nature of human experience. Calvino weaves their separate struggles into a single story about people trying to make sense of a world that refuses to explain itself.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, magical-realism
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, slice-of-life
Setting: Palomar
Period: 20th-century
130 pages · Harcourt Brace Jovanovich