meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The New Yorker: Fiction

Salman Rushdie Reads Italo Calvino

The New Yorker: Fiction

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Yorker, Wnyc, Literature, Books, New, Fiction, Arts

4.63.6K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2017

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Salman Rushdie reads and discusses “Love Far From Home,” by Italo Calvino

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is the New Yorker Fiction Podcast from the New Yorker magazine.

0:05.0

I'm Debra Treesman, Fiction Editor at the New Yorker.

0:08.0

Each month we invite a writer to choose a story from the magazine's archives to read and discuss.

0:13.0

This month we're going to hear Love Far From Home by Italo Calvino, translated by Tim Parks,

0:19.0

which was published in the New Yorker in June of 1995.

0:23.0

But it's always the same room.

0:25.0

In every town, it seems that the landlady's send the furniture on from town to town as soon as they know I'm coming.

0:31.0

Even my shaving kit on the marble dresser top looks as if I'd found it there when I arrived rather than putting it there myself.

0:37.0

The story was chosen by Salman Rushdie, who's the author of 11 novels, including The Enchantress of Florence,

0:44.0

and most recently, two years, eight months and 28 nights.

0:48.0

Hi, Salman.

0:50.0

Hi.

0:51.0

So last time that you did this podcast, you chose a story by Donald Barthelme.

0:56.0

And this time you've picked Calvino. What's why?

0:59.0

In both cases, just because they were writers who I loved for being beautifully odd.

1:07.0

Both, they're very strange writers.

1:10.0

Both cryptic writers in a way.

1:12.0

Yes, yes.

1:13.0

And I do think there's a kind of relationship between them, the kind of tone of voice that they use.

1:19.0

And how did you first come to Calvino and start reading him?

1:22.0

I think the first book of his I read actually was because I was asked to review his novel,

1:29.0

if on a winter's night, a traveler, for the London Review of Books.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios and The New Yorker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.