by Italo Calvino · 1983
A middle-aged man named Mr Palomar attempts to observe the world with total precision, fixing his attention in turn on a single wave, a gecko catching insects, a flock of starlings over Rome, a cheese shop, a zoo, and the ruins of Tula, each observation spiraling into meditation on knowledge, meaning, and his own place in things. The book closes with Palomar setting out to describe every instant of his life so as to postpone death, and dying in that same moment.