"Furnished with an engaging selection of tales, a formidable apparatus of primary texts and reproductions [from the] visual arts, this is an ideal text for a course in English on Boccaccio's Decameron. The translators have struck an enviable balance between the colloquial valences of the dialogue and the more formal moments of its register, all while untangling the complex syntax that can be daunting to the non-specialist....This is a Decameron that is accessible and comprehensible, inviting the general reader into its rich narrative world." -- Kristina M. Olson, George Mason University

"Boccaccio... is unsurpassed in the illuminating perspective from which he explores the variety of dramas of his characters in their day to day interactions, ... [and this] rendition of the Decameron is extraordinary: it breathes fresh life into this classic of world literature." -- Giuseppe Mazzotta, Sterling Professor in the Humanities for Italian, Yale University

"The translators have provided a smart and engaging selection of the best tales of the Decameron. Their lively prose translation successfully captures the oral scene of storytelling that is central to the book while still attending to important specifics of Boccaccio's language. A carefully conceived collection of secondary readings completes this volume, which will allow readers to enjoy Boccaccio's masterpiece from a variety of perspectives." -- Michael Sherberg, Washington University