Naked Life (La vita nuda, 1922)

The fifteen stories that are now part of the Collection titled Naked Life, published by Bemporad in 1922, had previously appeared with the same titles, together with two other short stories, “Watch and Ward” (“Di guardia”) and “The Reserved Coffin” (“La cassa riposta”), in a collection published by Treves in Milan in 1911.

Those short stories previously published were: “The Doctor’s Duty” (“Il dovere del medico”), appeared first as “The Hook” (“Il gancio”) in the literary journal La settimana, June 22, 1902, and then in the 1911 Treves edition of The Naked Life with its current title; “On Target” (“Nel segno”), published in Il Marzocco, February 14, 1904; “The Dearly Departed” (“La buon’anima”) in La Riviera Ligure, July 1904; “The Faithfulness of the Dog” (“La fedeltà del cane”), in Il Marzocco, December 16, 1904; “Set Fire to the Straw” (“Fuoco alla paglia”), in Il Marzocco, January 15, 1905; “Without Malice” (“Senza malizia”), in Il Marzocco, May 7, 1905; “Granella’s House” (“La casa del Granella”), in Il Marzocco, August 27, 1905; “Pallino and Mimì” (“Pallino e Mimì”) in La Riviera Ligure, November 1905; “Bitter Waters” (“Acqua amara”), in Il XX di Genova, October 15-22, 1905; “The Widower’s Way Out” (“L’uscita del vedovo”), in Il Marzocco, January 28, 1906; “All For the Best” (“Tutto per bene”), in Rivista popolare di politica, lettere e scienze sociali, June 15-30, 1906; “Tap Tap” (“La toccatina”), in Il Marzocco, August 12, 1906; “Naked Life” (“La vita nuda”), in Novissima- albo di arti e lettere, in 1907; “Distraction” (“Distrazione”), in La Riviera Ligure, January, 1907.

Two tales from this Collection also served as source material for theatrical works. “All for the Best” (“Tutto per bene”) became a comedy in three acts published by Bemporad in 1920 and staged the same year in Rome at the Quirino Theatre by Ruggero Ruggeri’s company; “The Doctor’s Duty” was turned into a one-act play published in the literary journal Noi e il mondo in January 1912 and staged in Rome in 1913. It is interesting to note that the short story “Even” (“Pari”) also inspired a comedy that Pirandello left unfinished and was published posthumously by Bompiani in the 1938 Almanacco letterario.

Looking at screenwriting as a lucrative activity, in 1913 Pirandello turned “On Target” into a subject for a film, although it was never made.

The short stories contained in the Collection Naked Life are:

“Naked Life” (“La vita nuda”)
“Tap Tap” (“La toccatina”)
“Bitter Waters” (“Acqua amara”)
“Pellet and Mimì” (“Pallino e Mimì”)
“On Target” (“Nel segno”)
“Granella’s House” (“La casa del Granella”)
“Set Fire to the Straw” (“Fuoco alla paglia”)
“The Faithfulness of the Dog” (“La fedeltà del cane”)
“All Respectably Done” (“Tutto per bene”)
“The Dearly Departed” (“La buon’anima”)
“Without Malice” (“Senza malizia”)
“The Doctor’s Duty” (“Il dovere del medico”)
“Even” (“Pari”)
“The Widower’s Way Out” (“L’uscita del vedovo”)
“Distraction” (“Distrazione”)