It seems like quite some time since I've read any Calvino, but I think I can safely rank this as one of his best. This book is in three sections, the collection of 11 short stories titled "Difficult Loves", all titled in the form of "The Adventure of..", and two longer stories "Smog", and "A Plunge Into Real Estate". The short stories are without exception brilliant, amusing, and well thought out. Some of them stick in my mind more than others, such as the Adventure of the Traveler, the Bather, and the Photographer, but none of them let the collection down. Smog tells the tale of a man who moves into a new town, which is plagued by smog, and though I struggle to say quite why, it is a first rate read. A Plunge Into Real Estate is longer, but not as good, maybe it could have done with being shorter, and Smog longer. Overall, though I would say that this is not as good as "If On A Winters Night", it is better than one of his other collection of stories: "Numbers in the Dark", as most of the stories here will bear re-reading, though it is not something I often do. ( )