Renaissance Transactions

“[B]oth well written and diversified. . . . The book, with its many viewpoints, seems to be indispensable to anyone studying Renaissance poetry.” - Roberta V. Ricci , MLN

“[E]ngaging . . . . [D]emonstrate[s], admirably and repeatedly, the value and jouissance of reading Renaissance texts against the context of their original cultures and in light of new methodologies.” - Madison U. Sowell , Renaissance Quarterly

“Of major importance to all students of the Renaissance, these learned, careful studies of the chivalric epic and romance explore such subjects as genre, the relationship of the chivalric epic to the developing theater (especially the melodrama/opera), and the use of motifs such as deception. . . . The essays are uniformly excellent in style and content.” - J. R. Buchert , Choice

“The success of [Finucci’s] endeavor is measured in the rich variety of the contributions and their compelling case for future epic explorations. . . . Readers with an interest in Comparative Literature will appreciate the deeper understanding of epic genre and genre theory that underlies the book’s formation. The studies on themes of dissimulation, disguise, tricks, and deception speak to a broader discourse on the strategies of representation.” - Nancy Dersofi , Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature

“These insightful essays constitute a well-designed and unified volume, which offers to specialists and nonspecialists some of the latest readings and interpretations of Ariosto and Tasso. Finucci did indeed bring together scholars whose innovative and thought-provoking contributions represent an invitation to reread and reconsider the Orlando furioso and the Gerusalemme liberata. Together they make an important and brilliant addition to the study of the Italian Renaissance.” - Gabriella Scarlatta Eschrich , Sixteenth Century Journal

“Most of the leading and well-known scholars of the Italian Renaissance are represented here with their sundry and complementary viewpoints. . . . The presence of so many different critical voices conveys a sense of this volume as a summa of current Renaissance criticism.” - Giuseppe Mazzotta, Yale University