Pandemic Literature
Rowan and I reluctantly came to recognize the need for this page. We have fielded so many inquiries from customers about epidemics, pandemics, plagues, and the science behind viral “jumps” between nonhuman to human species that we thought we need to put in one place the references we offer. Fear of the invisible threat extends into the past, whether history or fiction. The present fear looms large. Being human, as Robert Burns pointed out in his poem to the mousie whose life was upset by the plow, means to project the fear into the future, which explains our rich selection of plague-haunted science fiction/horror fiction. Many smart people and good writers have devoted thought and art to considering these fears, and we invite you to calm and measure your own in such good company.
The Decameron [Wayne A. Rebhorn translation]
The Decameron [Wayne A. Rebhorn translation]
“Rebhorn deserves our gratitude for an eminently persuasive translation...I celebrate his accomplishment.”—Edith Grossman
Ten young Florentines flee the Black Death of 1348 by escaping to a country villa overlooking the city. There they spend ten days telling each other one hundred stories. Their stories run the gamut of medieval genres—romance, tragedy, comedy and farce—and are rich with wit, earthiness and even bawdy irreverence.
Boccaccio’s reputation as one of the world’s greatest authors rests entirely on this singular, overflowing work. A tribute to the essential power of storytelling and laughter, even in the most trying times, The Decameron has been a source and inspiration for countless other storytellers over the centuries. Published on the 700th anniversary of Boccaccio’s birth, Wayne A. Rebhorn’s Decameron now speaks to us directly in a "lively, contemporary... English" (Stephen Greenblatt).
"An inexhaustibly rich late-medieval feast... a celebration of the sheer pleasure of being alive." — Stephen Greenblatt
"...fluent and elegant new translation...His [Rebhorn's] introduction and notes are all we could wish for and the achievement genuinely honours its original." — Jonathan Keates, The Telegraph
Winner — PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation, 2014