Umberto Eco

In advance of a new novel from Eco (The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, due next summer), we are treated to a compilation of essays in which the renowned novelist and heavyweight scholar wrestles with the universe of language and writing. At once scholarly and sardonic, On Literature collects eighteen essays on everything from syntax and symbolism to fantasy and fairytale. In each, Eco comes at his subject with a different head. Writing as an Italian, he considers history’s place for fellow countrymen like Dante and Calvino. In other pieces he flexes his considerable critical muscles, as when grappling with the works of Jorge Luis Borges and James Joyce. The bulk of this material was derived from myriad symposia, conferences, lectures, and such, so it tends toward formality. But in the final essay, “How I Write,” Eco gives us a silvery glimpse of his addiction to writing.