As a Man Grows Older

Italo Svevo · 1861–1928 · Italy

Originally Senilità (Italian)

Why it matters

A middle-aged clerk convinces himself a young mistress is his last chance at feeling alive, and wrecks her, his sister, and himself proving otherwise. Svevo's second ignored novel refined the self-deluding antihero two decades before Zeno's Conscience made him famous.

At a glance

Straightforward chronological narration, though its irony toward its self-deceiving narrator takes attention to catch.