A lot of Ariosto, a little of Boccaccio, a lot of Homer, Sophocles, and Shakespeare and a little of Dante too. Had I not been recently indulging in all of those authors, the story might have lost me, but now it’s just in good company. There’s even specific references to Sade that would have flown past me three months ago. So yes, this meta story on “the story that’s hidden in the warp of all stories” is, in Calvino fashion, a damn fine way to spend an evening. Everything does connect.
Leave me like this. I have come full circle and I understand. The world must be read backward. All is clear.