A posthumous collection of essays about the modern world from one of Europe's greatest, and best-selling, literary figures Umberto Eco was an international cultural superstar. In this, his last collection, the celebrated essayist and novelist observes the changing world around him with irrepressible curiosity and profound wisdom. He sees with fresh eyes the upheaval in ideological values, the crises in politics, and the unbridled individualism that have become the backdrop of our lives--a "liquid" society in which it's not easy to find a polestar, though stars and starlets abound. In these pieces, written for his regular column in L'Espresso magazine, Eco brings his dazzling erudition and keen sense of the everyday to bear on topics such as popular culture and politics, being seen, conspiracies, the old and the young, new technologies, mass media, racism, and good manners. It is a final gift to his reader--astute, witty, and illuminating.

Author Biography

UMBERTO ECO (1932-2016) was the author of numerous essay collections and novels, including The Name of the Rose, The Prague Cemetery, and Inventing the Enemy. He received Italy's highest literary award, the Premio Strega, and was named a Chevalier de la L gion d'Honneur by the French government. Eco was an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.