The Watcher and Other Stories - Italo Calvino

"This was a secret Italy that filed through that room, the reverse of the Italy that flaunts itself in the sun, that walks the streets, that demands, produces, consumes." - from The Watcher and Other Stories

IN THREE SHORT STORIES, one of the most imaginative modern writers demonstrates his range and virtuosity. A member of Italy's Communist Party is assigned to monitor a polling center in the title story, a sharp and unforgettable parody of the democratic process. In Calvino's prescient "Smog," one man's paranoid fixation on environmental crisis casts a pall on his newfound career and love affair. And "The Argentine Ant" is a farcical take on the horror tradition, illustrating a town's struggle against a legion too small to overcome.