Dialogues

The best possible tribute to Pontano is that his dialogues still make entertaining reading...A large part of this entertainment is Gaisser's doing--this is as shrewd and effervescent a rendering as poor forgotten Pontano is ever likely to get. It's another triumph for I Tatti, a benchmark of Pontano studies, and a required starting-point for all future textual scholars of his work. But it mainly makes readers think about the vanities of intellectuals and the joys of good raillery. It would be a shame if it found its way only into the hands of scholars and students, even though Pontano himself would probably have preferred it that way.--Steve Donoghue Open Letters Monthly (11/16/2012) The best possible tribute to Pontano is that his dialogues still make entertaining reading...A large part of this entertainment is Gaisser's doing--this is as shrewd and effervescent a rendering as poor forgotten Pontano is ever likely to get. It's another triumph for I Tatti, a benchmark of Pontano studies, and a required starting-point for all future textual scholars of his work. But it mainly makes readers think about the vanities of intellectuals and the joys of good raillery. It would be a shame if it found its way only into the hands of scholars and students, even though Pontano himself would probably have preferred it that way.--Steve Donoghue Open Letters Monthly (11/16/2012)