Born
in Alessandria in Italy, Umberto Eco is one of the most aphomeciated
modern Italian writers, both at home as well as abroad. Son of a family
with thirteen children, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 1954
and subsequently took a post as editor for cultural programs at the
Italian state TV. His first book, on St. Thomas Aquinas, was published
two years after his doctorate and was followed by a second, two years
later that made him into one of the main medievalist thinkers of the
country. Despite losing his job, he continued lecturing and in 1959
became the nonfiction senior editor of the Italian publishers Bompiani
(post he kept until 1975). That same year he strated writing a column
for Il Verri, a magazine centered on modernist ideas and linguistics.
This gave him the possibility also to write articles for the major national
newspapers. During these years he began developing his ideas on semiotics
and published three more books on the subject. After being professor
of semiotics at Milan Polytechnic, his career as semiotician had begun
and moved quickly as he became the first professor on this subject at
Bologna, Italy's oldest university. More publications followed but a
turning point was over the horizon: The Name of the
Rose. All his work on the Middle Ages became an idea for a novel
that was the summary of all his learnings so far but also a possibility
to mix diverse subjects. His publishers believed it would sell mildly
and certainly not nine million copies and become a movie. In Italy it
won numerous awards: homemio Strega, homemio Anghiari as well as Book
of the Year. Placed in the limelight, Eco published two more (non mystery)
books, Foucault's Pendulum and The Island of the Day Before,
successful both in Italy as well as abroad. Eco, married with two children,
is still professor at Bologna and writes a column for the Italian magazine
Espresso.
The year
is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected
of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate.
When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre
deaths, Brother William turns detective. His tools are the logic
of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights
of Roger Bacon - all sharpened to a glistening edge by wry humor
and a ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret
symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth
of the abbey, where "the most interesting things happen at
night".
Born
in Alessandria in Italy, Umberto Eco is one of the most aphomeciated
modern Italian writers, both at home as well as abroad. Son of a family
with thirteen children, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 1954
and subsequently took a post as editor for cultural programs at the
Italian state TV. His first book, on St. Thomas Aquinas, was published
two years after his doctorate and was followed by a second, two years
later that made him into one of the main medievalist thinkers of the
country. Despite losing his job, he continued lecturing and in 1959
became the nonfiction senior editor of the Italian publishers Bompiani
(post he kept until 1975). That same year he strated writing a column
for Il Verri, a magazine centered on modernist ideas and linguistics.
This gave him the possibility also to write articles for the major national
newspapers. During these years he began developing his ideas on semiotics
and published three more books on the subject. After being professor
of semiotics at Milan Polytechnic, his career as semiotician had begun
and moved quickly as he became the first professor on this subject at
Bologna, Italy's oldest university. More publications followed but a
turning point was over the horizon: 