“Not many allow for that, but this one flows perfectly,” Johnson said. Thanks to a generous layout, the large dining room became the master bedroom, the maids’ quarters were turned into a master bathroom, and the gallery now serves as a dining room for parties, though there is also an ample eat-in kitchen. The apartment was converted five years ago from a classic six into its current three-bedroom layout by the previous owner, according to Johnson, who handles many sales in the building along with her colleague Dianne Sirni. SLIDESHOW: Giovanna Calvino’s Fifth Avenue Salon. When asked by The Observer how the apartment fared in the bookshelf department, the listing broker, Halstead’s Eloise Johnson, said, “There are some, and they’re nice, but not a lot.” Add that to the punchlist. The apartment features eastern and southern exposures, which afford expansive, if indirect, Park views. Every Calvino book I read shows a slightly different side to the author, and two of these had a fantastical air about them that I haven't come across in quite a while.The only child of renowned experimental author Italo Calvino, Giovanna Calvino just paid $1.9 million for a high-floor apartment in the 1924 J.E.R Carpenter building, according to city records.

Overall I was impressed by this set of three stories. Admired in Britain, Australia and the United States, he was the most translated contemporary Italian writer at the time of his death.

There is a good amount of humour gained from the farcical and ridiculous in this one, but it is balanced by the deeper reflections too, which means fans of the author will be left pleased. His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy (19521959), the Cosmicomics collection of short stories (1965), and the novels Invisible Cities (1972) and If on a winter's night a traveler (1979). Here Calvino has another excellent and somewhat fantastical tale to tell, which not only succeeds as a whole but in the details too. The book is probaby worth picking up for this story alone, if you happen upon it, though it is also included in other volumes. Despite being a translation, the prose presumaby retains a lot of its original quality, as it was, in varying measures throughout, charming, clever, and inspiring. It is the sort of story, that while reading, I became involved in to the point where I could imagine myself there, and forgot about everything else around me. While this story is to an extent more credible, it is also much more entertaining than the first. Like the first, it is about an unusual Italian nobleman, set in Italy in fuedal times. This is the second story in the book, and is quite a lot longer than the other two.

The Cloven Viscount is an amusing, surreal, and dark story, if brief, and ultimately predictable. I was perhaps expecting more, based on previous experiences of Calvino, but the story was alright, having said that. It wasn't a bad story, but I felt slightly let down. The first sory was fairly short, being around 70 pages. This book contains 3 stories: The Cloven Viscount, The Baron In The Trees, and The Non-Existent Knight.

Our Ancestors by Italo Calvino