" He gives up narrative destination for destiny, clarification for clairvoyance. He invents a new laughter suitable to the contemporary belief in story. In short, Calvino re-addresses- and magisterially re-enters- the idea of myth, of "the tale."

"If the mouth can both smile and devour, the ear is all petrified anxiety. To listen acutely is to be powerless, even if you sit on a throne,... suspected eavesdropping, whispers,... the very noise of the universe... The ear turns out to be the most imagining organ, because it is the most accomplished at deciphering."

"Italo Calvino: Bringing Stories to Their Senses"
Cnythi Ozick
Metaphor & Memory