Cosmicomics

Metaphysical conceits are a thing of the past. Now with moon shots & interstellar probes, a writer really in tune with his age has to think of scientific conceits, or better yet, treat mathematical formulate, or theories & equations from physics, as if they were "characters" gamboling about the universe, beaming & burping thru the void, carrying on the most enlightened (tho not necessarily enlightening) conversations: "'Ahal' I said. 'Why don't we play at flying galaxies?' 'Galaxies?' Pfwfp suddenly brightened with pleasure. 'Suits me. But you...you don't have galaxy!' 'Yes, I do..."" ' Italo Calvino offers many similar exchanges, his tales being extraordinary & brilliant (if you like them; tiresome & thin, if you don't) variations on the whole spectrum of evolutionary transformations, contractions & expansions that have affected time & space since whatever your version of genesis happens to be. Calvino is a witty & fanciful fellow who enjoys linguistic pirouettes somewhat in the manner of Nabokov, but he lacks the latter's commanding personality, & he relies too heavily on the pathetic fallacy (the illusion that external objects have human feelings), so we find his simple cellular creatures telling us "When I was a kid, the only playthings we had in the whole universe were the hydrogen atoms..." etc. etc. For science fiction devotees, in any case, clearly the most sophisticated item yet from that genre.--Kirkus

Contents:
The Distance of the Moon (1968)
At Daybreak (1968)
A Sign in Space (1968)
All at One Point (1965)
Without Colors (1968)
Games without End (1968)
The Aquatic Uncle (1968)
How Much Shall We Bet? (1968)
The Dinosaurs (1968)
The Form of Space (1968)
The Light-Years (1968)
The Spiral (1968)