Overview

Boccaccio's  Decameron and the Ciceronian Renaissance  demonstrates that Boccaccio's puzzling masterpiece takes on organic consistency when viewed as an early modern adaptation of a pre-Christian, humanistic vision.

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Boccaccio scholars and all readers interested in the Decameron who are tempted to dismiss this study for its title's last words - the Ciceronian Renaissance in the Decameron - should take heed: This substantial volume by Michaela Paasche and Robert Grudin, a wife and husband team of scholars, succeeds in offering what many other studies of comparable length have failed to do, namely, a comprehensive analysis of Boccaccio's masterpiece in its entirety from a novel perspective, which is appealing and which explains many challenging elements of Boccaccio's masterpiece. - Annali d'Italianistica By exposing Boccaccio's debt to Cicero, Grudin and Grudin offer a fresh and thought-provoking contribution to Decameron studies. - Speculum

Boccaccio scholars and all readers interested in the Decameron who are tempted to dismiss this study for its title's last words - the Ciceronian Renaissance in the Decameron - should take heed: This substantial volume by Michaela Paasche and Robert Grudin, a wife and husband team of scholars, succeeds in offering what many other studies of comparable length have failed to do, namely, a comprehensive analysis of Boccaccio's masterpiece in its entirety from a novel perspective, which is appealing and which explains many challenging elements of Boccaccio's masterpiece. - Annali d'Italianistica By exposing Boccaccio's debt to Cicero, Grudin and Grudin offer a fresh and thought-provoking contribution to Decameron studies. - Speculum

"""Boccaccio scholars and all readers interested in the Decameron who are tempted to dismiss this study for its title's last words - the Ciceronian Renaissance in the Decameron - should take heed: This substantial volume by Michaela Paasche and Robert Grudin, a wife and husband team of scholars, succeeds in offering what many other studies of comparable length have failed to do, namely, a comprehensive analysis of Boccaccio's masterpiece in its entirety from a novel perspective, which is appealing and which explains many challenging elements of Boccaccio's masterpiece."" - Annali d'Italianistica ""By exposing Boccaccio's debt to Cicero, Grudin and Grudin offer a fresh and thought-provoking contribution to Decameron studies."" - Speculum"

Based on an intimate familiarity with Cicero's works, no less than with Boccaccio's own, Grudin and Grudin's thorough-going study of the Decameron's literary debt to Cicero is a major contribution to our understanding of Boccaccio's masterpiece in particular and of his literary methodology in general. Indeed, the Grudins have provided the most thoughtful consideration of this important subject since Attilio Hortis. Without doubt, this volume is a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in Boccaccio and early Renaissance humanism. - Michael Papio, associate professor of Italian, University of Massachusetts Amherst and President of the American Boccaccio Association<br><br>'In crisp, energetic, lucid, and humane prose, the Grudins tell a marvelous literary story of Boccaccio's engagement with Cicero--the man and the texts. They then forge a comprehensive reading of the Decameron in light of previously neglected Ciceronian texts and fragments that laid the foundation for Boccaccio's exploration of nature, governance, ethics, and virtue. Full of generous primary quotations, driven in its focus, and bold in its historical assertions, Grudin and Grudin's book contributes to our understanding not only of Humanism and Realism, but also of civics, culture, and Democracy itself.' - Michael Calabrese, professor of English, California State University, Los Angeles<br>

Based on an intimate familiarity with Cicero's works, no less than with Boccaccio's own, Grudin and Grudin's thorough-going study of the Decameron 's literary debt to Cicero is a major contribution to our understanding of Boccaccio's masterpiece in particular and of his literary methodology in general. Indeed, the Grudins have provided the most thoughtful consideration of this important subject since Attilio Hortis. Without doubt, this volume is a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in Boccaccio and early Renaissance humanism. - Michael Papio, associate professor of Italian, University of Massachusetts Amherst and President of the American Boccaccio Association In crisp, energetic, lucid, and humane prose, the Grudins tell a marvelous literary story of Boccaccio's engagement with Ciceroa the man and the texts. They then forge a comprehensive reading of the Decameron in light of previously neglected Ciceronian texts and fragments that laid the foundation for Boccaccio's exploration of nature, governance, ethics, and virtue. Full of generous primary quotations, driven in its focus, and bold in its historical assertions, Grudin and Grudin's book contributes to our understanding not only of Humanism and Realism, but also of civics, culture, and Democracy itself. - Michael Calabrese, professor of English, California State University, Los Angeles

Author Information

Author Michaela Paasche Grudin: Michaela Paasche Grudin is Professor Emerita at Lewis and Clark College, USA. Author Robert Grudin: Robert Grudin is Professor Emeritus at the University of Oregon, USA.

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