Man's gift of deceiving himself is inexhaustible. Few authors of world literature have exposed this inventiveness as wonderfully indiscreetly as Italo Svevo. The exhilarating vivisections of his Zeno Cosini illuminate the consciousness labyrinth of the modern man to the furthest corners. A revelation in every sense! Signore Cosini is fifty-seven years old and can look back on an impressive record of untapped opportunities and missed opportunities. No matter whether he wanted to play a good game or just tried to give up smoking, whether he was involved in the business world or was out on an erotic adventure - fate cheated him time and time again. He is still not a non-smoker when he is barely sixty, and he married his wife only because her sisters had rejected him before.