With remarkable psychological insight, Italo Svevo tells the story of a hapless, doubting, guilt-ridden man whose penchant for obsessive introspection makes him incapable of living, except on a mental level. As a form of therapy his doctor advises him to write his memoirs; in doing so, Zeno reconstructs and ultimately reshapes the events of his life into a palatable reality for himself -- a reality, however, founded upon compromise and rationalization. A representative psychoanalytic novel, "Zeno" is at once a comedy of errors, a neurotic testimonial, and a surpassingly articulate illumination of human fixations, motivations, and consolations. With its uncommon insight into the human condition, achieved with an endearing lightheartedness, it has transcended its historical specificity to rank among the 20th century's classics of world literature.