As A Man Grows Older

As a Man Grows Older (1983 edition, Penguin Modern Classics) by Italo Svevo – a melancholy masterpiece of midlife confusion, existential drift, and unreciprocated love, now brought to you by Crappy Old Books, where the spine’s cracked but the insights still sting.

Originally titled Senilità, Svevo’s quietly devastating novel follows Emilio Brentani, a man who’s not quite young, not quite wise, and not nearly as in control of his romantic entanglements as he’d like to think. He falls hopelessly for Angiolina—a woman as vibrant and free as he is deluded and passive. What follows is a slow unravelling, punctuated by self-deception, philosophical shrugs, and plenty of awkward social dynamics.

This Penguin Modern Classics edition gives Svevo the respect he’s due—though this particular copy may smell faintly of attic and feature margin notes from a disillusioned lit major. Still, for those interested in early 20th-century introspection with a dash of Freudian gloom, it’s a quietly potent read.

At Crappy Old Books, we believe books age like people: some get brittle, some get musty, but the best of them only get wiser.

Keep browsing: See more Modern Classics books Other books by Italo Svevo