Abstract

Alberto Arbasino’s letters held at the Archivio Urbinate of the Carlo and Marise Bo Foundation testify the intellectual vivacity but also the ironic manner of his confrontation with Carlo Bo, which lasted more than thirty years. The first letter, sent by the young Arbasino to Bo in June 1948, presents the image of an adolescent who is sure of his culture but in need of confirmation about his future as a writer. The other letters, dating from 1969 to 2000, attest to the constant and mutual attention between the established writer and one of his most assiduous critics, who frequently reviewed Arbasino’s books. The six letters and the postcard published here show how Arbasino understood his own responses to Bo’s criticisms as opportunities to practice the genre of self-commentary.