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Article: Italian fiction: Eco-logy. (Italian author Umberto Eco) (Books and Arts)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 28, 1989
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Italian fiction Eco-logy
THE honour of the Italian publishing world, best known until lately for its pornographic art books, has now been restored by one man: Umberto Eco. Mr Eco's first novel, "The Name of the Rose" (published in the English-speaking world in 1983), has been an international bestseller, with 800m copies sold so far. In the autumn a second novel, "Il Pendolo di Foucault"* ("Foucault's Pendulum"), appeared; it has sold more than 600,000 copies in Italy in three months. Mr Eco, at the last count, has turned down five bids from film producers.
"The Name of the Rose", in essence a medieval mystery tale, was notoriously arcane and complicated. ...