Book Recommendation: “Cosmicomics” by Italo Calvino

The Moon hanging just feet above the Earth’s surface, full of Moon-milk for the taking. The experience of existence when all matter existed in a single point. A being desperate to leave a sign of his presence within the slowly revolving galaxy. These and nine other equally strange and cosmic premises make up the short stories of Italo Calvino’s “Cosmicomics.” Playful, insightful, and deeply moving, Cosmicomics twists opening paragraphs covering scientific concepts and the history of the universe into inventive tales of loss, connection, and change. With an incredibly focused theme and boundless creativity, Calvino crafts a universe full of dry witticisms and absurd truths. In his exploration of the cosmos, he reveals something very human. Short and sweet but memorable and intimately striking, “Cosmicomics” is a perfect late-night pool to dive into, summer-fall-transition meditation to undertake, or self-reflective telescope to gaze through. There’s nothing quite like it.