Not so long ago Emilio Brentani was a promising young author. Now he is an insurance agent on the fast track to forty. He gains a new lease on life, though, when he falls for the young and beautiful Angelina, except that his angel just happens to be an unapologetic cheat. But what begins as a comedy of infatuated misunderstanding ends in tragedy, as Emilio’s jealous persistence in his folly, against his humanity and earthy humor, by psychological insight and an elegant simplicity of style, As a Man Grows Older (senilita’, in Italian; the English title was the suggestion of Svevo’ great friend and admirer, James Joyce) is a brilliant study of hopeless love and hapless indecision. It is a masterwork of Italian Literature, here beautifully rendered into English in Beryl de Zoete’s classic translation. Many copies are available at a reasonable price in the various book sites as it is used in university Italian literature courses. Also in Amazon. And…the action takes place in Trieste, at the northeast end of the peninsula. At the time of the novel, Trieste was part of Austria.