"Man of Smoke," Aldo Palazzeschi's experimental anti-novel, was first published in 1911 as part of the Italian Futurist movement. It is now recognized as one of the most original creations of early twentieth-century fiction. Quite literally a "man of smoke," Perelà appears one day to delight, inspire, and alarm the men and women of the City. His popular rise and disgraceful fall - marked by a series of encounters with every type of modern citizen - make for an often hilarious and sometimes nightmarish social satire. The Man of Smoke becomes the pivotal metaphor around whom the author weaves his tragicomic play between lightness and heaviness. Palazzeschi offers an existential vision of human life that stands besides the best works of Pirandello, Svevo, Calvino, or Musil. "...that rarest of treasures: a book that manages to predict the future while maintaining its contemporary accuracy.... This witty and urbane condemnation of social values is an invaluable addition to any serious collection of intellectual fiction." -- MultiCultural Review 2.1 "Light-hearted on the one hand, enigmatic and profound on the other...a pleasurable read and an exciting intellectual enterprise..." -- VIA, Fall 1994 "Nicolas J. Perella and Ruggero Stefanini, eminent scholars at the University of California at Berkeley, have succeeded admirably with Palazzeschi's 1911 novel, producing a very readable text whose English nearly always captures the sense and the spirit of the original." -- Italica, AATI 72.4, Winter 1995 "Palazzeschi's experimental, satirical novel of lightness vs. heaviness was first published in 1911 as part of the Italian Futurist movement. Man of Smoke , now available in a splendid translation, is a genuine discovery for American readers...social satire at its best, sophisticated and unbridled yet alloyed with compassion and humor..." -- Bloomsbury Review 12.8, December 1992 "Palazzeschi...satirizes what he saw as the gulf between the supercilious, empty notions of bourgeois society and the hardness of the reality that lay under their feet...." -- L'Italo-Americano, October 1, 1992 "The language of the translation itself is fluid and unencumbered and captures the spirit and elan of Palazzeschi's original text.... This work will be a welcome addition to any reading list for courses in twentieth-century Italian literature in translation, redressing a lacuna far too long neglected; and we are all beholden to translators Perella and Stefanini for their perspicacity and diligence." -- Piccola Biblioteca, 1996 Palazzeschi offers an existential vision of human life that stands besides the best works of Pirandello, Svevo, Calvino, or Musil. Man of Smoke is recognized as one of the most original creations of early twentieth-century fiction. Of Italy's major twentieth-century writers, perhaps the least known to the English-speaking world is Aldo Palazzeschi. Aldo Giurlani (Palazzeschi, his nom de plume, was in reality the family name of his maternal grandmother) was born in Florence in 1885, the only child of a well-to-do merchant who owned a chic haberdashery in the elegant Via dei Calzaioli. Following grammar school, the young Aldo attended the Istituto Tecnico where he was trained as a future accountant. But his interests were elsewhere, and while still in his teens, he enrolled in a famous school for acting, soon joining the touring company of Virgilio Talli. After a few performances, however, he gave up the stage and returned to Florence where, at his own expense, he had already published a slim volume of poems, I cavalli bianchi . From then on, thanks also to the fact that he had an independent income, he dedicated himself to a literary career, which in its early years did not bring him much recognition. Until 1913 he wrote both poetry and prose. In addition to two novels - : riflessi and Il codice di Perel - he published his poems in several volumes: Lanterna , Poemi , and L'incendiario . In this period Palazzeschi associated himself with F. T. Marinetti's Futurist movement and contributed to avant-garde periodicals and a raging literary polemic. Although a pacifist by nature and persuasion, he served in the Italian army (though never in combat) during World War I. At the war's end, back in Florence he devoted himself to writing novels, short stories, and memoirs in a style that gradually departed from the fantastic inventiveness of his earlier work. It was perhaps also because of this more accessible manner (allegedly "naturalistic") that he won considerable success, particularly with Stampe dell'800 and Sorelle Materassi. During the '20s and '30s, he spent extended periods in Paris. At the beginning of World War II, Palazzeschi, whose parents had recently died, moved to Rome where, with the exception of stays in Paris and Venice, he lived until his death. His activity as a novelist brought him two coveted literary prizes, one for I fratelli Cuccoli in 1948 and the other for Roma in 195