Alberto Moravia is an Italian journalist, short-story writer, and novelist known for his fictional portrayals of social alienation and loveless sexuality. He was a major figure in 20th-century Italian literature.
Moravia contracted tuberculosis of the bone (a form of osteomyelitis usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis) at the age of 8, but, during several years in which he was confined to bed and two years in sanatoriums, he studied French, German, and English; read Giovanni Boccaccio, Ludovico Ariosto, William Shakespeare, and Molire; and began to write. Moravia was a journalist for a time in Turin and a foreign correspondent in London. His first novel, Gli indifferenti (1929; Time of Indifference), is a scathingly realistic study of the moral corruption of a middle-class mother and two of her children. It became a sensation. Some of his more important novels are Agostino (1944; Two Adolescents); La Romana (1947; The Woman of Rome); La disubbidienza (1948; Disobedience); and Il conformista (1951; The Conformist), all on themes of isolation and alienation. La ciociara (1957; Two Women) tells of an adaptation to post-World War II Italian life. La noia (1960; The Empty Canvas) is the story of a painter unable to find meaning either in love or work. Many of Moravia's books were made into motion pictures.
His books of short stories include Racconti romani (1954; Roman Tales) and Nuovi racconti romani (1959; More Roman Tales). Racconti di Alberto Moravia (1968) is a collection of earlier stories. Later short-story collections include Il paradiso (1970; “Paradise”) and Boh (1976; The Voice of the Sea and Other Stories).
Most of Moravia's works deal with emotional aridity, isolation, and existential frustration and express the futility of either sexual promiscuity or conjugal love as an escape. Critics have praised the author's stark, unadorned style, his psychological penetration, his narrative skill, and his ability to create authentic characters and realistic dialogue.
Moravia's views on literature and realism are expressed in a stimulating book of essays, L'uomo come fine (1963; Man as an End), and his autobiography, Alberto Moravia's Life, was published in 1990. He was married for a time to the novelist Elsa Morante.
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Agostino
35 editions - first published in 1944 Borrow -
La Romana: romanzo.
34 editions - first published in 1947 Borrow -
La ciociara: romanzo
31 editions - first published in 1957 Borrow -
Il conformista: romanzo.
28 editions - first published in 1951 Borrow -
Gli indifferenti
25 editions - first published in 1930 -
Conjugal love
20 editions - first published in 1951 -
La noia: romanzo.
18 editions - first published in 1960 -
Il disprezzo
15 editions - first published in 1954 -
La disubbidienza
12 editions - first published in 1948 -
1934
12 editions - first published in 1982 -
Roman tales
12 editions - first published in 1956 Borrow -
Io e lui
10 editions - first published in 1971 -
Le ambizioni sbagliate: romanzo
9 editions - first published in 1935 -
Uomo come fine
9 editions - first published in 1965 Borrow -
Indifferenti
9 editions - first published in 1953 Borrow -
A ghost at noon
8 editions - first published in 1955 -
L' attenzione: romanzo
8 editions - first published in 1965 -
The lie
8 editions - first published in 1965 -
I racconti
8 editions - first published in 1952 -
The empty canvas
6 editions - first published in 1961 -
Nuovi racconti romani
6 editions - first published in 1959 -
L' automa
6 editions - first published in 1963 -
La vita interiore
6 editions - first published in 1978 -
The Voyeur: a novel
6 editions - first published in 1986 Borrow -
Erotic tales
6 editions - first published in 1985 Borrow -
More Roman tales
5 editions - first published in 1963 -
Rivoluzione culturale in Cina: an impression of Mao's China.
5 editions - first published in 1968 -
Romanzi brevi: La mascherata, Agostino, La disubbidienza, L'amore coniugale.
4 editions - first published in 1967 -
Opere
4 editions - first published in 1986 -
Le Mépris
4 editions - first published in 1955 -
L'Amour conjugal
4 editions - first published in 1966 -
A quale tribù appartieni?
4 editions - first published in 1972 -
L' epidemia: racconti surrealisti e satirici.
4 editions - first published in 1957 -
Un'idea dell'India: 36 tavole fuori testo.
4 editions - first published in 1962 -
Cosma e i briganti
3 editions - first published in 1980 -
Il mondo è quello che è: L'intervista.
3 editions - first published in 1966 -
Il viaggio a Roma
3 editions - first published in 1988 -
L' inverno nucleare
3 editions - first published in 1986 -
L' amante infelice: di Alberto Moravia.
3 editions - first published in 1965 -
La mascherata: romanzo
3 editions - first published in 1945 -
La vita è gioco: [Di] Alberto Moravia.
3 editions - first published in 1969 -
Teatro: di Moravia.
3 editions - first published in 1958 -
Cortigiana stanca: racconti.
3 editions - first published in 1965 -
Journey to Rome: a novel
3 editions - first published in 1990 -
Two women
3 editions - first published in 1958 -
Boh
3 editions - first published in 1976 -
L' Uomo come fine
3 editions - first published in 1964 -
La rivoluzione culturale in Cina
3 editions - first published in 1967 -
Il paradiso: racconti.
3 editions - first published in 1970 -
The woman of Rome: a novel
3 editions - first published in 1949 -
La Cosa: e altri racconti.
3 editions - first published in 1983 -
Opere, 1927-1947
3 editions - first published in 1986 -
Time of desecration
3 editions - first published in 1980 Borrow -
Histoires d'amour
2 editions - first published in 2000 -
La Désobéissance
2 editions - first published in 1949 -
La villa del venerdì: e altri racconti
2 editions - first published in 1990 -
2 Women
2 editions - first published in 1958 -
Les Indifférents
2 editions - first published in 1999 -
Moi et Lui
2 editions - first published in 1974 -
Disobedience
2 editions - first published in 1950 -
I Racconti 1927-1951
2 editions - first published in 1974 -
Racconti
2 editions - first published in 1968 -
Io e il mio tempo
2 editions - first published in 1988 -
El Amor Conyugal
2 editions - first published in 1986 -
Promenades africaines
2 editions - first published in 1993 -
Un' altra vita
2 editions - first published in 1973 -
L' Uomo Che Guarda
2 editions - first published in 1985 -
Viaggi
2 editions - first published in 1994 -
Un mese in U.R.S.S.
2 editions - first published in 1958 -
Una cosa è una cosa: [racconti.
2 editions - first published in 1967 -
Romanzi brevi di Moravia: La mascherata. Agostino. La disubbidienza. L'amore coniugale.
2 editions - first published in 1953 -
I racconti di Moravia
2 editions - first published in 1956 -
Ritratto dell'artista da vecchio: conversazioni con Alberto Moravia
2 editions - first published in 2001 -
Two; a phallic novel: [by] Alberto Moravia. Translated by Angus Davidson.
2 editions - first published in 1972 -
Impegno controvoglia: saggi, articoli, interviste : trentacinque anni di scritti politici
2 editions - first published in 1980 -
A Quale Tribu Appartieni?
2 editions - first published in 1972 -
Teatro di Moravia
2 editions - first published in 1958 -
Nuovi racconti romani di Moravia
2 editions - first published in 1959 -
La Bella Vita: [l'Italia del consenso in undici racconti]
2 editions - first published in 1976 -
Beatrice Cenci
2 editions - first published in 1965 -
Racconti di Alberto Moravia
2 editions - first published in 1968 -
L' amore coniugale: e altri racconti
2 editions - first published in 1981 -
L' ennui
2 editions - first published in 1966 -
Conformista
2 editions - first published in 1952 -
Two women by Alberto Moravia
2 editions - first published in 1958 -
Vita di Moravia
2 editions - first published in 1990 -
La Ciociara (I Grandi Tascabili)
2 editions - first published in 1989 -
Il vassoio davanti alla porta
2 editions - first published in 1989 -
Wheel of fortune
2 editions - first published in 1937 -
Racconti surrealisti e satirici
2 editions - first published in 1975 -
Cosa è una cosa: & other stories.
2 editions - first published in 1969 Borrow -
Storie della preistoria
2 editions - first published in 1982 Borrow -
Two: a phallic novel
2 editions - first published in 1971 Borrow -
L'home que mira
1 edition - first published in 1987 -
Boh!
1 edition -
Two women
1 edition - first published in 2001 -
Sette racconti
1 edition - first published in 1972 -
L'L lomo che guarda
1 edition - first published in 1985 -
L' Attenzione (Oscar)
1 edition -
Désidévia
1 edition - first published in 1979
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History Created April 1, 2008 · 7 revisions
| November 4, 2011 | Edited by Ludovicus | Added photo, bio |
| November 4, 2011 | Edited by Ludovicus | Added new photo |
| November 4, 2011 | Edited by Ludovicus | merge authors |
| February 23, 2011 | Edited by Tom Morris | Edited without comment. |
| April 1, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | initial import |