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  • Published: 20 October 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529980837
  • Imprint: Vintage Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 144
  • RRP: $24.00

The Castle Of Crossed Destinies




Experience a BRIEF ENCOUNTER like no other, with Italo Calvino, the master of post-war experimental fiction, and his mind-bendingly brilliant novella about a travelling band of Tarot readers.


A magical, mystical novella about the art and power of storytelling, this is Italo Calvino's miniature masterpiece.

A group of travellers chance to meet, first in a castle, then in a tavern. Having mysteriously lost their powers of speech, they must tell their tales using only a deck of tarot cards. As their stories interlink and overlap, a fantastic, surreal and chaotic history of the human quest for meaning unfolds.

BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

  • Published: 20 October 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529980837
  • Imprint: Vintage Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 144
  • RRP: $24.00

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Praise for The Castle Of Crossed Destinies

A work that celebrates storytelling… Magical.

Fiona Wilson, The Times