In the most personal of the essays, Eco recalls experiencing liberation from fascism in Italy as a boy, and examines the various historical forms of fascism, always with an eye toward such ugly manifestations today. And finally, in an intensely personal open letter to an Italian cardinal, Eco reflects on a question underlying all the reflections in the book—what does it mean to be moral or ethical when one doesn't believe in God?
Author Biography: Umberto Eco is Professor of Semiotics at the University of Bologna. His collections of essays include Kant and the Platypus, Serendipities, Travels in Hyperreality , and How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays . He is also the author of three great novels published by Harcourt: The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum , and T he Island of the Day Before . Harcourt will be publishing his next novel as well, Baudolino , in 2002.