The “Extravagant” Stories (Novelle stravaganti, 1938)

These short stories were initially left out of the Collections by Pirandello but were rediscovered thanks to the archival research of Pirandello’s posthumous editor at Mondadori, Manlio Lo Vecchio-Musti. They were included for the first time in the Omnibus Mondadori editions that Lo Vecchio-Musti and Sodini edited in 1937-38, where the six stories were added to the Appendix for the first time.

The stories were first published in various magazines and newspapers, which is how Lo Vecchio-Musti was able to track them down. “The Encounter” appeared in Ariel (January 15, 1898); “Bad Luck” and “Bad Luck (Continuation and Ending)” also appeared in Ariel in three subsequent issues, with “Bad Luck” in number 12 (March 6, 1898) and its continuation and ending appearing in numbers 13 and 14 later in March of the same year. “Secret Cry” came out in Il Marzocco (July 12, 1903). “Characters” was published in Il Ventesimo (June 10, 1906). “Low Walls, a Fig Tree, and a Little Bird” came out much later, in the Corriere della Sera (October 18, 1931).

“Secret Cry” was later incorporated as a part of the first chapter in Part II of Pirandello’s historical novel, The Old and the Young (I vecchi e i giovani, 1909).

As mentioned above, “Characters” was one of the three meta-fictional short stories that served as a starting point for Pirandello’s most famous play, Six Characters.

The six “Extravagant” stories included in the Appendix are:

“The Encounter” (“Incontro”)
“Bad Luck” (“Disdetta”)
“Bad Luck” (Continuation and Ending)” (“Disdetta (continuazione e fine)”)
“Secret Cry” (“Pianto segreto”)
“Characters” (“Personaggi”)
“Low Walls, a Fig Tree, and a Little Bird” (“I muricciuoli, un fico, un uccellino”)